The U.S. Army announced Friday that it would no longer be accepting transgender applicants or supporting sex-change procedures.
The announcement comes after Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo Feb. 7 to officially bring the department in line with President Donald Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order, which banned transgender members from the whole armed forces as well as sex change procedures. Exact figures vary, but a DOD report published in September 2022 estimates that 1.7% of active service members in 2021 were “gender minorities,” which includes transgender individuals.
There are currently 11,500 transgender service members in the military, accounting for less than 1% of total force personnel, according to DOD statistics.
“The #USArmy will no longer allow transgender individuals to join the military and will stop performing or facilitating procedures associated with gender transition for service members,” the Army said on X Friday.
Hegseth stated in his memo that transgender service members couldn’t meet “the rigorous standards” needed to serve effectively.
“Individuals with gender dysphoria have volunteered to serve our country and will be treated with dignity and respect,” Hegseth’s memo reads. “The Undersecretary for Defense for Personnel and Readiness is authorized and delegated the authority to provide additional policy and implementation guidance outside of the normal DoD issuance process, including guidance regarding service by Service members with a current diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria, to implement this direction.”
Former President Joe Biden lifted Trump’s first-term ban on transgender service members in 2021. Over his four years in office, LGBT and transgender initiatives saw a renaissance in the armed services.
Trump also banned all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the military in a bid to promote “meritocracy” and to facilitate the “elimination of race-based and sex-based discrimination.”
“Success in this existential mission requires a singular focus on developing the requisite warrior ethos, and the pursuit of military excellence cannot be diluted to accommodate political agendas or other ideologies harmful to unit cohesion,” Trump’s executive order reads.
“The Army is ensuring compliance with recent executive actions,” U.S. Army Spokesperson Christopher Surridge told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include comment from the Army.
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