Pentagon Moves To Remove 1,000 Transgender Troops After Supreme Court Ruling

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has issued internal instructions to the Pentagon to begin discharging transgender service members who do not voluntarily leave by June 6.

The directive, released Thursday, marks a swift response by the Trump administration to a recent Supreme Court ruling that allows the enforcement of a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, Associated Press reported.

Under the new guidelines, the Department of Defense will begin separating nearly 1,000 transgender troops who have already identified themselves. An earlier Pentagon directive issued this year had given service members a 30-day window to self-identify.

These individuals will be given the opportunity to undergo "involuntary separation." Active-duty personnel have until June 6 to self-identify, while members of the Reserve and National Guard will have until July 7 to do the same.

"On conclusion of the self-identification eligibility window, the Military Departments will initiate involuntary separation processes," according to the memo.

In a social media post following the court's decision, Hegseth wrote, "No More Trans @ DoD."

The Pentagon also announced that it will begin reviewing medical records to identify additional transgender troops who may not have come forward. Department officials said it is challenging to determine the full number of transgender service members, but those diagnosed with gender dysphoria — a condition where a person's gender identity does not align with their biological sex — can be located through medical documentation.

Once identified, these individuals will be involuntarily discharged from service. Furthermore, anyone diagnosed with gender dysphoria will be barred from enlisting in the military moving forward.

As of Dec. 9, 2024, military records indicate that 4,240 service members across active duty, the National Guard, and Reserve forces have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. However, officials concede that the actual number may be higher.

There are currently about 2.1 million troops serving in the U.S. military.

The decision drew sharp criticism from transgender rights activists, who described the move as "shameful."

"It is just shameful," Reuters quoted Jennifer Levi, a senior director at the pro-LGBTQ legal group GLAD Law. "It is senseless to fast track people out of the military who are meeting standards and putting lives on the line to defend the country."

Trump Admin Acts On Campaign Promise

The latest move follows a long-standing goal of President Donald Trump to reverse policies implemented by Democratic predecessors that allowed transgender individuals to serve openly in the military. During his campaign, Trump emphasized restricting transgender rights in the armed forces and moved quickly after his election to roll back earlier reforms.

"No more pronouns, no more climate-change obsessions, no more emergency vaccine mandates, no more dudes in dresses," Hegseth said while addressing a conference hosted by U.S. special operations forces Tuesday.

Former President Joe Biden had overturned Trump's 2017 transgender ban in 2021, arguing that "America is safer when everyone qualified to serve can do so openly and with pride." Biden's policy followed earlier reforms by former President Barack Obama, who first allowed transgender individuals to serve openly in 2016.