The United States will begin discharging transgender service members within 30 days unless they receive an individual waiver, according to a Pentagon memo released Wednesday.
The memo surfaced in a court filing related to a legal challenge against President Donald Trump’s executive order issued in late January, which aimed to bar transgender individuals from serving in the military.
“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,” the memo stated.
However, it added that troops could be “considered for a waiver on a case-by-case basis, provided there is a compelling government interest in retaining the service member that directly supports warfighting capabilities.”
To qualify for a waiver, service members must demonstrate that they have never attempted to transition and must 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.”
Policies regarding transgender military service have shifted dramatically in recent years, with Democratic administrations working to allow open service while Trump has repeatedly sought to impose restrictions.
The ban on transgender troops was initially lifted in 2016 under President Barack Obama, allowing those already serving to continue openly, while new transgender recruits were set to be accepted starting July 1, 2017.
However, Trump’s administration first delayed that timeline to 2018 before ultimately deciding to reinstate restrictions.
After several legal challenges, Trump’s policy—modified in response to court rulings—took effect in April 2019 following a prolonged legal battle that reached the Supreme Court.
Upon taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden swiftly moved to overturn Trump’s restrictions, arguing that any qualified American should be allowed to serve.
After returning to the White House in January, Trump issued a new executive order targeting transgender service members, stating: “Expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”
Transgender rights have become a deeply divisive issue in American politics, with Democratic-led and Republican-led states enacting sharply contrasting policies on matters such as gender identity and public accommodations.cal treatment to what books on the topic are allowed in public or school libraries.
