United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order freeing the military from what he called “transgender ideology.” The measure is part of a series of military-related orders that Trump told reporters he had signed aboard Air Force One, including the construction of a U.S. version of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, the reinstatement of service members discharged for refusing to be vaccinated against Covid, and the elimination of diversity programs in the armed forces.
“To ensure we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will remove transgender ideology from our military,” Trump said, promising to reinstate the ban and demonizing any recognition of gender diversity.
The order states that “the adoption of a gender identity incompatible with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in their personal life.” “A man’s claim to be a woman and his demand that others honor this falsehood are inconsistent with the humility and selflessness required of an active-duty service member,” he added.
In his order, Trump stated that the armed forces “have been plagued by a radical gender ideology to appease activists” and that “many mental and physical health conditions are incompatible with active service.”
In recent years, transgender Americans have faced a rollercoaster of shifting policies on military service, with Democratic administrations seeking to allow them to serve openly, while Trump has repeatedly sought to exclude them from the ranks.
The U.S. military lifted the ban on transgender troops in 2016, during Democratic President Barack Obama’s second term. Under that policy, transgender troops already in service were allowed to come out openly, and transgender recruits were to begin being accepted by July 1, 2017. But the first Trump administration postponed that date to 2018 before deciding to completely reverse course, drawing criticism from human rights groups.
Trump’s Democratic successor, Joe Biden, moved to lift the restrictions just days after taking office in 2021, stating that all qualified Americans should be able to serve.
Although the number of transgender troops in the U.S. military is relatively small, estimated at around 15,000 out of more than two million service members, their dismissal will ultimately reduce active U.S. forces at a time when the country is already facing recruitment challenges.
