No one in the Trump administration can explain why they want to ban trans people from the military

No one in the Trump administration seems able to explain why they want to enforce a military ban on transgender people – or how many trans men and women are serving in the US armed forces right now.

Court filings submitted by lawyers representing the government on Saturday (1 March), in a case challenging Donald Trump’s executive order that is aiming to remove transgender people from the US army, navy and air force, show they have no way to count how many trans officers there are because the Defence Department does not track service members based on their gender identity.

It comes as part of Talbott vs Trump, a court case brought by GLAAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, in January. There are several plaintiffs “across all branches of the military,” many of whom are “among the highest levels” including a major, a captain, a sergeant and a navy pilot.

How many trans people are there in the US military?

Latest court filings show the government estimates that there are anywhere between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender personnel, according to a study published nine years ago. It also reveals that the Department of Defence provided gender-affirming medical care to at least 1,892 active-duty service members between 2016 and 2021.

The administration has claimed that gender-affirming care puts a financial strain on the military, although lawyers later admitted that the Pentagon had spent just $52 million (£41 million) over a decade, compared to its budget of $918.1 billion (£725.6 billion) for 2024 alone.

Government lawyers also seemingly found it difficult to find specific examples of mental-health conditions that supposedly disqualify someone on the grounds of “honesty, humility, and integrity,” which is being used as a justification for banning those with gender dysphoria.

When pressed, they referred to “psychiatric and behavioural disorders”, without citing any specific example.

Lambda Legal chief executive Kevin Jennings told The Advocate that the admission was “proof that the trans military ban is a solution in search of a problem”, adding: “If trans people’s presence was somehow disruptive to the military, they would have the data to prove it – and they don’t. This proves [the executive order] is motivated by animus rather than reason.”

This comes after the Pentagon urged transgender service members to voluntarily resign by 26 March or face potential repercussions.

A memorandum from the US Department of the Air Force on Saturday (1 March) said: “Service members eligible for voluntary separation pay will be paid at a rate that is twice the amount for which the service member would have been eligible under involuntary separation pay.”

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