Military to begin expelling trans soldiers in 30 days

The Armed Forces will begin the removal of transgender soldiers in the next 30 days unless they obtain an exemption in a case-by-case review. This instruction appears in a memo issued by the Pentagon last Wednesday, within the lawsuit over the appeal filed by self-proclaimed trans rights organizations against President Donald Trump's executive order that mandated the removal of transgender personnel from military service.

According to the document, "service members who have a current diagnosis or history of, or who exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria will be processed for separation from military service." However, each of the cases will be "considered on a case-by-case exemption, if there is a compelling governmental interest in retaining the service member," the text adds.

Conditions for a possible exemption

An exemption for which soldiers must demonstrate that they have never undergone any sex transition treatment, and present a record demonstrating at least "36 consecutive months of sex stability of the service member without clinically significant disruption or impairment in important areas of social, occupational or other functioning."

The memo notes that "U.S. government policy is to establish high standards of readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity of service members. This policy is inconsistent with the medical, surgical and mental health limitations of individuals with gender dysphoria or who have a current diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria or exhibit symptoms consistent with it."

An initiative that pits Republicans and Democrats against each other

Trans entry into the Armed Forces was banned until Barack Obama lifted this restriction in 2016. At that time, the Democratic president ordered that transgender troops already serving could do so openly, and that the military would begin accepting new trans recruits from July 1, 2017.

Something that came to a standstill with the first arrival of Donald Trump to the White House. The Republican administration postponed the entry into force of the rule until 2018, although it finally reversed the policy completely. With the return of the Blue Party in the form of Joe Biden four years later, the initiative finally materialized during the last legislature.

However, one of Trump's first executive orders again knocked it down. In early February, another Pentagon memo banned transgender people from joining the military and halted transition treatment for others already serving in the military.

Trans activists call the move an "unprecedented" purge

At this time, transgender soldiers are not required to identify themselves, so the Pentagon does not have an exact number. According to Department of Defense data, the Armed Forces are consists of about 1.3 million military personnel on active duty at the moment. According to activist organizations that call themselves defenders of transgender rights, the number of transgender soldiers would rise to 15,000 transgender service members. Figures that authorities believe are inflated by several thousand.

The Trump administration's move has been taken to court by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and and GLAD Law, which called it "unprecedented": "The scope and severity of this ban is unprecedented. It is a complete purge of all transgender people from military service," according to Shannon Minter of NCLR.