The Pentagon is moving forward with the implementation of President Donald Trump’s transgender military ban following the Supreme Court’s decision to stay an injunction against the administration’s policy on Tuesday.
According to The Guardian, the Pentagon is expected to remove as many as 1,000 U.S. military members who openly identify as transgender while allowing other military members who have not openly identified themselves to voluntarily separate from the military over the next month. The outlet cited U.S. officials who previously claimed that there were 4,240 U.S. troops who had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria as of December.
In a Thursday memorandum, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said, “As the President of the United States clearly stated in Executive Order 14183, ‘Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,’ January 27, 2025, expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for Military Service.”
Hegseth added, “Service by individuals with a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibiting symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria is not in the best interest of the Military Services and is not clearly consistent with the interests of national security.”
Thursday’s memorandum explained that U.S. military members with a “current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria” are eligible to voluntarily separate from the military and that those military members may be eligible for voluntary separation pay. The memorandum also noted that active-duty service members will have until June 6 to voluntarily separate, while reserve service members will have until July 7 to separate.
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According to the memorandum, the Pentagon will begin “involuntary separation processes” for additional transgender military members following the “self-identification eligibility window.”
In a video message shared Thursday on X, formerly Twitter, Hegseth said, “Here at the Defense Department, we continue to relentlessly pursue the president’s agenda, especially on readiness.”
Hegseth explained that the Pentagon implemented a transgender military ban policy following Trump’s executive order on “prioritizing military excellence and readiness” earlier this year. The secretary of defense noted that while the policy was challenged in court, the Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration’s policy in a ruling on Tuesday.
In Thursday’s video, Hegseth announced, “So in accordance with policy now reinstated, service members who have a current diagnosis or history of or exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria may elect to separate voluntarily…and then eventually involuntarily, if necessary.”
“This is the president’s agenda,” Hegseth added. “This is what the American people voted for, and we’re going to continue to relentlessly pursue it.”
