Pentagon Moves To Begin Mass Removal Of Transgender Troops
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The Pentagon has issued orders to begin banning transgender service members from the U.S. military, giving those affected until June 6 to resign voluntarily or face discharge.
The directive, sent on May 15, instructs all branches to identify troops with a diagnosis, history, or even symptoms “consistent with” gender dysphoria.
Those who do not seek voluntary separation by the deadline will be processed for involuntary removal, which is now cleared for enforcement following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on May 6.
“Commanders who are aware of service members in their units with gender dysphoria, a history of gender dysphoria, or symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria will direct individualized medical record reviews,” the memo states.
The ban was set out after Trump’s inauguration in January, but lawsuits had paused its enactment until a decision from the Supreme Court last week ruled in its favour, 6–3, allowing the Trump administration to enforce a ban on trans defence personnel while the legal challenges were ongoing.
The decision lifts an earlier injunction, and permits the Department of Defense to immediately begin discharging transgender service members and preventing their enlistment.
Medical examinations used to identify those with gender dysphoria
Troops with a history of, and those who exhibit symptoms of gender dysphoria will be subject to medical review records if they don’t self-report.
An anonymous senior defence official told military news outlet Stars and Stripes that screenings will be the Defense Department’s primary means of banning troops who don’t self-identify.
Unit commanders can also initiate medical screenings of service members they suspect to have gender-dysphoria.
The executive order signed by President Donald Trump after his inauguration asserts that “the Armed Forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology” and that “adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”
As of yet, no one is sure of how many trans and nonbinary people are serving in the military and reserve forces.
As trans people are a very small percentage of the population, and many trans people prefer to be stealth, figures have ranged from 4240 to 15,000. While exact numbers are hard to come by, estimates suggest the policy would affect thousands of active and reservist service members.
Chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, said that approximately 1,000 troops across the services have already self-identified as having been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Those who self-identify by the deadline will be provided with an honourable discharge and voluntary separation pay determined based on rank and time in service. They will able be able to access pre-separation counselling, temporary health care coverage, employment assistance, financial counselling and community reintegration services
“The department encourages currently serving service members who are impacted by the policy to elect to do the voluntary identification and voluntary separation process, which may afford certain benefits not available to those who go through the involuntary separation process,” Parnell said.
