The United States will begin removing transgender service members from the military within 30 days, unless they can obtain a waiver on a case-by-case basis, according to a memo from the Pentagon released on Wednesday. This memo is part of a court filing related to President Donald Trump’s executive order issued in late January, which aimed to bar transgender individuals from serving in the military.
The memo specifies that “service members who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria will be processed for separation from military service.” However, these individuals may be considered for a waiver, provided there is a compelling government interest in retaining them, which directly supports warfighting capabilities.
To qualify for a waiver, transgender service members must demonstrate that they have never attempted to transition, as well as provide evidence of “36 consecutive months of stability in the service member’s sex without clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.”
This new policy marks the latest development in the ongoing debate over transgender military service. Over the years, policies have shifted back and forth. The U.S. military initially lifted its ban on transgender personnel in 2016 under the Obama administration, allowing openly transgender troops to serve and permitting transgender recruits to join starting in 2017. However, the Trump administration postponed this change and eventually reversed it, instituting new restrictions that were challenged in court.
In 2021, President Joe Biden moved to reverse these restrictions, advocating for the inclusion of all qualified Americans in military service. However, in January 2025, Trump, upon returning to office, issued an executive order that reinstated his stance on transgender military service, arguing that “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”
Transgender military service has been a contentious issue in U.S. politics, with state-level policies on transgender rights varying widely across the nation.
