US defence secretary Pete Hegseth bans trans people from joining US military
Pete Hegseth. (Getty)
Pete Hegseth has implemented a ban on trans people signing up to serve in the US military.
The secretary of defence signed the ban, which prevents those with a “history of gender dysphoria” from entering the armed forces, last week, according to a recently uncovered memo.
It comes after Trump signed an executive order laying the groundwork for reinstating a ban on trans people in the military after it was repealed by then president Joe Biden in 2021.
The memo orders all “scheduled, unscheduled or planned” gender-affirming medical procedures for military personnel to be halted immediately.
“The department must ensure it is building ‘one force’ without sub-groups defined by anything other than ability or mission adherence,” Hegseth wrote. “Efforts to split our troops along lines of identity weaken our force and make us vulnerable. Such efforts must not be tolerated or accommodated.”
While former Fox News host Hegseth said individuals “with gender dysphoria” already serving must be “treated with dignity and respect”, it is unclear whether they will be allowed to remain in the armed forces.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which labelled the prospect of a ban “dangerous and discriminatory,” has reported that at least 15,000 active-duty personnel are transgender or non-binary. Officials put the numbers in the low thousands, according to The Guardian.
Last week, the HRC, alongside Lambda Legal, filed a federal lawsuit against the planned ban, arguing that it was a “threat to our national security” and “wastes years of training and financial investment”.
HRC vice-president legal Sarah Warbelow said: “Thousands of transgender service members have already met the military’s rigorous standards and have more than proven themselves. Our military must be able to recruit the best candidates, retain the highly trained service members, and every qualified patriot should be able to serve free of discrimination.”
According to Gallup, 58 per cent of Americans are in favour of letting transgender men and women serve in the military, although this has declined from 71 per cent six years ago.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
