US 'Immediately' Removes 1,000 Trans Soldiers From Army

Their presence “is in conflict with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle , including in his or her personal life,” he wrote in an executive order instructing the Defense Department to review its policy on servicemembers undergoing or having undergone sex reassignment. Now the Pentagon says the military will “immediately” begin the process of expelling about 1,000 transgender soldiers , forcing those who don’t voluntarily leave by early June.

The executive order banning transgender people from serving in the military dates back to January, and the Supreme Court ruled this week that the ban could go into effect while litigation against it is ongoing. About 1,000 troops who have identified as having a diagnosis of gender dysphoria fall into that category, Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell said. “At the end of the self-identification eligibility period, military departments will initiate involuntary discharge processes,” a memo from Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

In his January 27 executive order, Trump declared that “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ that is divergent from an individual’s sex cannot meet the rigorous standards required for military service.” The Pentagon followed up with a memo in late February, saying it would remove transgender soldiers from the military unless they were granted a waiver on a case-by-case basis, as well as barring transgender people from enlisting.

Transgender Americans have faced a roller-coaster of military service policies in recent years, with Democratic administrations seeking to allow them to serve openly while Trump has sought to keep them out of the ranks.