U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that cancels diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the armed forces.
Other orders from the President aim to reinstate thousands of service members who were discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccination, as well as to restrict the rights of transgender service members.
“The armed forces of the United States have a clear mission: to protect the American people and our homeland, being the deadliest and most effective fighting force... The pursuit of military excellence cannot be diluted in favor of political agendas or other ideologies that undermine unit cohesion,” one of the orders signed by Trump during his flight from Miami to Washington states.
According to the order, the expression "gender identity" that differs from a person's sex at birth does not meet military standards.
President Donald Trump signed an order directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to review Pentagon policy regarding transgender individuals.
The order discusses a ban but instructs the Pentagon to develop a policy regarding their service in the armed forces based on military readiness.
Trump had previously attempted to implement a ban on transgender service during his first term, but his decision was tied up in courts for years and was eventually repealed by former President Joe Biden shortly after he took office.
Before his appointment, Hegseth wrote in his book "War with Warriors" that "for the sake of recruits, for the military, and primarily for the safety of the country, transgender individuals should not be allowed to serve. It's that simple."
In July 2017, Trump announced on Twitter that he would not allow transgender individuals to serve in the military "in any capacity." Over the next two years, his administration worked out the complex details of who the ban would apply to, depending on what stage of surgical transition they were in and how they identified.
In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the administration to partially maintain the ban while legal challenges went through the courts.
Once Biden took office in 2021, one of his first actions was to revoke the ban. Following that, the Pentagon announced it would also cover the medical expenses of transgender service members during their transition.
The number of known transgender service members is estimated to be between 9,000 and 14,000. The Department of Defense has sent requests for the number of transgender service members to the individual branches. At the same time, since transgender service members may identify in various ways and it is unclear whether they are undergoing medical procedures, there is no single database that tracks this information.
Advocates who fought the ban the first time stated they are prepared to challenge the ban again.