The United States Army posted on X, “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.”
This, following President Trump’s executive order, called "Prioritizing military excellence and readiness."
A defense official told ABC news that currently, there are more than 4,000 military personnel quote “diagnosed with gender dysphoria.”
A number of lawsuits have been filed already, including some from active duty transgender service members.
“Well, sure, if you're someone who's serving in the military and you need this medical treatment- let's say you signed up or re-enlisted thinking you were going to have access to this medical treatment, and all of a sudden that's taken away from you, your self identity is going to be wiped away. I would expect many, many soldiers who are serving to to file a lawsuit,” said Jeffrey Lewis, First Amendment Attorney.
This response isn’t quite new, since the Trump administration banned transgender people from the military in 2017.
“This new one is a little different. It impacts speech. The Trump administration has taken the position now, unlike what it did in the prior term, that when someone who serves in the military says that their gender is something different than what was on the birth certificate, they are engaging in false speech and they cannot serve in the military when making false speech. There's an interesting free speech issue there,” said Lewis.
Lewis said in the future, he believes the government will argue that military readiness and unit cohesiveness is inconsistent with service by transgender soldiers.
So that leaves the question:
“If I was a transgender person and I wanted to go enlist in the military today, what would happen?” I said.
“Well, if you're willing to lie, if you're willing to check the box that you're something other than what you believe you are,, you could serve as long as you're willing not to receive treatment and willing to mask who you are,” said Lewis.
As for those currently serving:
“I think the way it's going to be presented to them is a choice. Check the box on this form that you are male or female, and if that choice doesn't conform with their birth certificate, they're going to be discharged,” said Lewis.
The Army also saying on X, that effective immiediately, all medical procedures associated with affirming or facilitating gender transitions are paused.
Thelast post of the thread said that “individuals with gender dysphoria have volunteered to serve our country and will be treated with dignity and respect.”
