The Pentagon is moving fast to kick out around 1,000 openly transgender troops.
Anyone who hasn’t spoken up yet has 30 days to step forward and remove themselves, according to a new order that came out on Thursday.
This came right after the Supreme Court gave the green light for the Trump administration to go ahead with its trans military ban.
Officials say more trans troops could be identified soon
The Defense Department says they’ll also be digging through medical records to try and find others who haven’t come forward yet.
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As of December 9, 2024, there were around 4,240 people across active duty, reserves, and the National Guard diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
That’s a super small group out of the 2 million folks in service, but officials say there might be more out there.
The ban follows a recent Supreme Court ruling
This all kicked off again after Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision that gave the Trump team the go-ahead to start enforcing the trans military ban.
Trans troops are now being ordered to leave
The Pentagon’s already starting to separate the 1,000 troops who came forward as trans. Everyone else has 30 days to either self-report or quietly leave on their own.
Some service members still have time to come forward
This latest memo is pretty much the same as the one they sent out back in February. But back then, things got paused because of a bunch of lawsuits.
That earlier directive had also given people 30 days to come out as trans. Around 1,000 did during that window.
Medical records may be used to find others
Now that the court gave the OK, the Pentagon plans to go even further and look through medical files to find anyone else who hasn’t self-identified yet
Troops with gender dysphoria are a small minority
As of early December, 4,240 service members had official diagnoses of gender dysphoria. It’s a tiny percentage compared to the total military force, just a small group in the bigger picture, though some officials believe the real number might be higher.
These discharges may come at a big personal cost
A Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, said those 1,000 troops who already came forward will now start the “voluntary separation process.”
One of them, Rae Timberlake, who’s with Sparta Pride, has been in the Navy for 17 years. They said some folks might lose major benefits if they don’t take the buyout offer now.
“There’s no guarantee to access to your pension or severance or an honorable discharge,” Timberlake said.
Many troops are only leaving because they feel forced
Even though Timberlake chose to leave, they said a lot of trans service members would still be on duty if they had the chance. “This is not voluntary. This is a decision that folks are coming to under duress,” Timberlake said.
“These are 1,000 transgender troops that would be serving if the conditions were not created to force them into making a decision for their own wellbeing, or the wellbeing of their family long-term.”
This move fits a larger pattern under Trump
This isn’t a one-off. Kicking out trans troops is part of a bigger trend under the Trump administration. When Trump got into office, he signed off on a bunch of gender-related orders.
Not long after, the Department of Veterans Affairs started cutting back healthcare for LGBTQ+ veterans. One of the first moves was getting rid of VA directive 1341, which had supported treatment for gender dysphoria.
Some worry this could worsen recruitment struggles
This latest move comes at a rough time for military recruitment. Numbers have already been down. And it’s not just about trans troops.
The current defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has also said he doesn’t think women belong in combat. On top of that, there are talks about possible cuts to the VA, which could scare off even more young people from signing up.
Defense secretary doubled down on the policy
When they announced the new removals on Thursday, Hegseth didn’t hold back. He stood by his decision and wrote on X, “We are leaving WOKENESS AND WEAKNESS behind. No more pronouns,” and added, “We are done with that sh*t.”
