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The Pentagon is currently planning to provide services to trans service members who do not meet certain requirements under the new policy, according to official guidance published in court filings on Wednesday.
“Service members who have a current diagnosis or history or exhibit symptoms will be dealt with for the separation of gender discomfort from military service,” says a memo that outlines the policies signed by official signatures to carry out the duties of the Secretary of Defense for personnel and preparation. The memo was included in court filings as part of an ongoing lawsuit over the Pentagon policy.
“The department only recognizes two genders: male and female,” the policy memo said. “Individual sex is constant and is constant throughout a person’s life. All service members serve only according to sex.”
Policy guidance follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in January, which directs the Pentagon to implement its own policy that transgender services members are not compatible with military service. It is unclear how many transgender people will serve the military. In 2018, an independent lab estimated that 14,000 transgender forces were serving.
The exception to the removal of applicants from military service is when “there are attractive government benefits… directly support combat capabilities” and when individuals are willing to comply with all standards “related to the gender of the applicant.”
If we demonstrate “36 consecutive months of stability” without “clinical serious distress or disability” without “clinical serious distress or disability”, we can demonstrate “not attempting to transition to sex other than gender” and service members may retain it if they are not attempting to adhere to “all applicable standards” related to gender.
Documents detailing the Pentagon’s new policy have been filed in court as part of a legal challenge to Trump’s executive order. During a recent hearing in the case, US District Judge Ana Reyes said the executive order was “undoubtedly ramping to Animus.” She signaled that she tends to support several trans service members and two trans individuals who are hoping to join the military that filed a lawsuit last month.
However, former President Joe Biden appointee, Reyes, agreed to refrain from deciding whether to block the order indefinitely until he sees official guidance from the department implement it. More written legal discussions from both sides will be filed in the coming days, with the judges set to hold another hearing later next month.
A similar ban Trump issued in 2017 has drawn at least four lawsuits claiming that the ban represents an unconstitutional form of sex discrimination. Federal district courts across the country have blocked the ban from being implemented temporarily, but the Supreme Court ultimately forced the ban to be implemented in 2019 without determining whether it was a constitution. Biden reversed Trump’s policies in 2021.
The Pentagon’s new policy was far more severe than the policy based on the first Trump administration’s ban, allowing the military in which the policy was enacted to continue to become grandfathers and serve. The policy, published Wednesday, directed that service members being separated will be deemed unreleased until removed from the service. It also said that no funds from the Department of Defense will be used for surgical procedures related to “sexual reallocation surgery, genital reconstruction surgery as a treatment for gender discomfort, or newly initiated intersex crosshormone therapy.”
Air Force Master Sergeant. After serving openly as a trans for nearly a decade, Logan Ireland resisted the Department of Defense’s argument that trans service members are not compatible with military standards or national security interests.
“Thousands of transgender service members like me now have important roles, many of which require years of professional training and expertise,” Logan said Wednesday. “Eliminating us creates important operational gaps that could take more than a decade to fill, undermining military preparation and effectiveness.”
Policy changes will also affect transgender recruits. This includes those who were separated from the military under Trump’s first administration because of their identity.
Among them is Riley Lane, who was released from the Air National Guard under Trump’s first administration. After Biden defeated the initial ban, Rhyne was scheduled to re-enter the Army and ship for basic training in March.
“It hurts a lot to go through it again,” Rhyne said earlier this month after Trump’s basic training was put on hold following the executive order. After receiving news of the Department of Defense policy on Wednesday, Rhyne said it was “surprising and extremely disappointed.”
“We’ve fought this before and are ready to fight this again,” Rhyne said.
This story has been updated with additional reports.
CNN’s Devan Cole and Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.
