President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2025. (Vanessa White/Department of Defense)
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to repeal a provision allowing transgender troops to serve in the military.
Former President Joe Biden ended Trump’s de facto ban on transgender service members and allowed individuals who meet military entrance qualifications to enlist, serve in their self-identified gender and access care deemed medically necessary for gender transition. Trump did not issue a new ban but the repeal clears the way for one.
Biden’s policy reverted to the Pentagon regulations announced in 2016 toward the end of former President Barack Obama’s administration, which halted the longstanding ban on open service for transgender men and women. That policy, which was backed by then-Vice President Biden, allowed troops to officially change their gender in their military profiles and serve in that sex, as long as they could meet minimum fitness and other standards.
In July 2017, Trump issued a series of surprise tweets announcing his intention to ban transgender men and women from serving “in any capacity.” The Pentagon’s de facto ban on transgender men and women enlisting in the military went into effect in April 2019, following nearly two years of legal battles launched after transgender service members and military hopefuls sought to halt its implementation.
The Pentagon long insisted its policy was not a blanket ban because of its protections for those transgender service members who came out after the 2016 policy and a waiver process that could allow some transgender people to join the military.
But the policy barred nearly all people diagnosed with gender dysphoria — described by the American Psychiatric Association as “a conflict between a person’s physical or assigned gender and the gender with which he/she/they identify.” It did allow people to enlist with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria who had doctor certification that they had remained stable in their biological sex for 36 months. It disqualified all people who had medically transitioned their sex.
Trump on Monday signed a flurry of executive orders, including one that declared the government would recognize only two sexes — male and female. He also rolled back diversity, equity and inclusion programs across all federal agencies.
In March 2021, when the Defense Department unveiled the policy change, it estimated the number of service members who identified as transgender ranged from 1,000 to 8,000. The Human Rights Campaign in November estimated a ban on transgender troops could impact about 15,000 troops.
