Pete Hegseth Reinstates Ban on New Transgender Service Members After 4-Year Pause Under Joe Biden

Mar. 15, 2025

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.Photo:Allison Robbert/The Washington Post/Getty

Allison Robbert/The Washington Post/Getty

The Department of Defense has reintroduced a ban on new transgender service members in the United States military, effective immediately.

PresidentDonald Trump, 78, previously directed the Pentagon to make a plan for reviving hiscontroversial first-term policy— four years after PresidentJoe Bidensquashed it.

On Feb. 7, Defense SecretaryPete Hegseth, 44, issued aninternal memoto senior Pentagon leaders that revealed the terms of his trans military restrictions, which came to light on Monday, Feb. 10.

In the memo, Hegseth calls for the Pentagon to stop people “with a history of gender dysphoria” from enlisting in or reentering the armed forces. Hegseth also ordered the cancellation of all scheduled or unscheduled medical procedures related to troops' gender transitions.

Though the defense secretary did not immediately call for the expulsion of all trans service members, he delegated authority to one of his undersecretaries to provide “additional policy and implementation guidance” about their continued service, which could lead to a more exhaustive ban down the line.

Despite the new restrictions, Hegseth acknowledged that trans service members “have volunteered to serve our country” and said they should “be treated with dignity and respect.”

President Donald Trump signing executive orders on Jan. 20, 2025.Anna Moneymaker/Getty

Anna Moneymaker/Getty

In January, Trump signed a slate of executive orders relating to the U.S. armed forces that paved the way for Hegseth’s new actions.

In addition to calling for a ban on transgender service members, Trump signed orders that removed diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the military and reinstatedservice members who were dischargedfor refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine in the height of the pandemic.

“Unit cohesion requires high levels of integrity and stability among service members,” the document said, adding that there is no room for “anything less than resilience, strength, and the ability to withstand extraordinary physical demands.”

“Individuals who are unable to meet these requirements are unable to serve in the military. This has been the case for decades,” the document continued.

“The United States armed forces are in the business of defending our fellow citizens from our enemies, foreign and domestic,” said Biden’s Defense SecretaryLloyd Austinat the time. “I believe we accomplish that mission more effectively when we represent all our fellow citizens.”

Austin continued: “I also believe we should avail ourselves of the best possible talent in our population, regardless of gender identity. We would be rendering ourselves less fit to the task if we excluded from our ranks people who meet our standards and who have the skills and the devotion to serve in uniform.”

Donald Trump is sworn into a second term as president on Jan. 20, 2025.Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Chip Somodevilla/Getty

In 2017, Trumpfirst announced the banthat prohibited transgender people from serving “in any capacity” in the military.

“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” Trump wrote on July 26, 2017, in a series of tweets that reportedly caught the Pentagon off guard.

He continued: “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.”

Based on the limited research available, the same study also suggested that embracing transgender service members would not have an impact on “unit cohesion, operational effectiveness, or readiness.”

Protesters take to the streets of New York City on July 29, 2017, after Donald Trump’s first trans military ban.Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty

Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty

Trump’s initial 2017 ban was met with intense legal backlash, as well asoutrage and disappointmentfrom transgender members of the military.

“For the President to deny an able-bodied, fully qualified person the inherent right to raise their right hand and serve their country, potentially giving their own life for our freedoms, is doing this country an injustice,” Air Force Staff Sgt. Logan Irelandtold PEOPLEin 2017.

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The order was another effort to repeal Biden-era policies — like the former president’s 2022 move to allow citizens to select “X” as a gender-neutral marker on their passports.

source: people.com