Pentagon's waiver for transgender troops forces them to deny their identities, court filing shows
Source: The Advocate
BREAKING: Pentagon's waiver for transgender troops forces them to deny their identities, court filing shows
The policy explicitly bans transgender service members from receiving gender-affirming medical care, including hormone therapy and gender-confirmation surgeries.
By Christopher Wiggins
March 05 2025 4:44 PM EST
The Trump administration has escalated its efforts to purge transgender service members from the military, issuing a new Pentagon memorandum on March 4 that tightens restrictions while offering only narrow exceptions for those in highly specialized roles, under impossible conditions. The document, submitted Tuesday in Talbott v. Trump in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, affirms that people with gender dysphoria or who have undergone any transition-related medical care are ineligible to serve, adding that only rare waivers could be available under limited circumstances.
The memorandum, issued by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, states that “the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints” associated with gender dysphoria are “incompatible with military service.” According to the document, the Department of Defense will consider retention or accession waivers on a case-by-case basis, but only for those in mission-critical positions requiring highly specialized skills deemed essential to warfighting capabilities.
However, transgender troops can only attain a waiver if they deny their identity. In those instances, service members must have lived as their sex assigned at birth for at least 36 consecutive months, never attempted to transition, and be willing to adhere to all military standards associated with their assigned sex, the memo states. Advocates point out that this is impossible, without completely denying one’s identity and going back in time.
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Read more: https://www.advocate.com/news/pentagon-outlines-trans-ban-waivers