On Monday, former U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning the use of “invented pronouns” and transgender ideology within the military. According to Trump, this move was necessary to maintain discipline, truthfulness, and an honorable lifestyle among troops.
On releasing his statement, Trump averred that individuals living as a different gender other than their biologized gender disagreed with military tradition. He reasoned that it does not work so well and also hurts the preparedness of military capabilities. “Speaking at a retreat for Republican House members in Miami, Mr. Trump said, “To make sure that we have the most lethal force on the face of the earth, we get transgender ideology hell out of our military.
Trump’s History with Transgender Military Policies
This order aligns with Trump’s earlier stance during his first presidential term. In 2017, he reversed an Obama-era policy that allowed transgender individuals to serve openly in the military. At the time, Trump claimed their inclusion was “disruptive, expensive, and eroded military camaraderie.”
The Obama administration had already put in place a policy in 2016 allowing transgender troops to serve openly and was planning to start accepting transgender recruits as of July 1, 2017. However, Trump’s initial ban derailed those efforts.
In 2021, Joe Biden ended Trump’s ban, reestablishing the right for transgender people to serve. Biden argued that all Americans wanting to serve their country should be able to do so. In a farewell address last week, outgoing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated, “Any military that turns away qualified patriots who are eager to serve is just making itself smaller and weaker.”
Reactions to the New Policy
A White House official described Trump’s latest order as a step toward “eradicating gender radicalism from the military.” Lawyers representing the troops have promised to challenge it in court again, just as they did during the first term.
At the moment, the number of transgender service members in the US military is low, but a ban will create major difficulties, especially at a time when the services are facing recruitment problems. Excluding qualified people based on gender identity only weakens the armed forces, critics say.
Against this backdrop, Trump remains firm about his opinion that the policy change is necessary for the strength and cohesiveness of the military.
