Weeks after Trump signed an executive order barring transgender service members from the military, the Pentagon has touted a waiver allowing some personnel to continue serving under specific circumstances. But even this waiver involves impossible-to-meet standards, contradictorily requiring trans service members to have never transitioned.
According to The Advocate, a Pentagon memo dated March 4 outlines a waiver for trans service members who operate in critical roles to remain in the military. The memo was submitted in the Talbott v Trump court case on Tuesday, which challenges Trump’s January 27 executive order purging the military of trans personnel.
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The memo confirms that trans people who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and have undergone any form of medical gender affirming care are now ineligible to serve. The waiver, while seeming to allow for narrow exceptions, is ultimately impossible to meet.
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In order to obtain a waiver, trans service members must have lived as their sex assigned at birth for 36 consecutive months and “[demonstrate] that he or she has never attempted to transition to any sex other than his or her sex.” In other words, they must not be trans—or at least be able to go back in time 36 months to detransition.
Even in the unlikely event that a trans service member meets these requirements, they will be subject to constant monitoring within the military. The memo outlines that trans service members must report to a Board of Inquiry, and the Pentagon will now require the military to track waivers and dismissals relating to trans personnel. Prior to this, the Department of Defense did not track the number of trans members serving, as recently admitted in court.
The Talbott v Trump court case is scheduled for a March 12 hearing in which Judge Ana Reyes of the US District Court Washington DC will decide whether to block Trump’s ban. Reyes has previously skewered the motive behind the executive order.
Trump’s order, she said last month, “calls an entire category of people dishonest, dishonorable, undisciplined, immodest, who lack integrity—people who have taken an oath to defend this country, who have been under fire, people who have taken fire for this country.”
“We’re dealing with unadulterated animus,” she added.
Reyes, who was appointed by Joe Biden, is both a lesbian and an immigrant for Uruguay. For these reasons, Trump’s Justice Department has filed a complaint, accusing her of bias.
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