The United States will remove transgender troops from the military unless they receive a waiver on a case-by-case basis, according to a Pentagon memo released on Wednesday.
The memo, made public on February 26 as part of a court filing, is tied to a legal challenge against President Donald Trump’s late January executive order, which aims to bar transgender individuals from serving in the military.
“Service members who have a current diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria, or who exhibit symptoms consistent with it, will be processed for separation from military service,” the memo states.
However, some troops may be considered for a waiver if there is a “compelling government interest” in retaining them, provided their service directly supports warfighting capabilities.
To qualify for a waiver, individuals must demonstrate that they have never attempted to transition and have maintained “36 consecutive months of stability in their sex without clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.”
A separate Pentagon memo issued earlier this month bans transgender individuals from joining the military and halts gender transition treatment for those already in service.
The latest memo also declares that applicants for military service with a diagnosis, history, or symptoms of gender dysphoria are disqualified, as are individuals who have undergone cross-sex hormone therapy, sex reassignment, or genital reconstruction surgery as treatment for gender dysphoria.
Disqualified applicants may seek a waiver if there is a “compelling government interest” in their enlistment and they are “willing and able to adhere to all applicable standards, including those related to their sex.”
Policies on transgender military service have shifted in recent years, with Democratic administrations advocating for their right to serve openly, while Trump has repeatedly moved to exclude them.
The US military lifted its ban on transgender troops in 2016 during President Barack Obama’s second term, allowing serving members to be open about their gender identity and paving the way for new transgender recruits starting in July 2017.
However, the Trump administration delayed the enlistment date to 2018 before ultimately reversing the policy.
Trump’s restrictions on transgender military service faced multiple court challenges but were eventually implemented in April 2019 following a prolonged legal battle that reached the Supreme Court.
After taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden reversed Trump’s policy, declaring that all qualified Americans should be able to serve in the military.
Upon returning to office in January, Trump issued another executive order targeting transgender troops, stating: “Expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”
