MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump cites “military excellence” to ban transgender people from US Armed Forces

Trump's efforts in this regard during his first presidency were held off by a series of court rulings. A new batch is expected in the coming days

US President Donald Trump insisted that “expressing a false 'gender identity' that differs from a person's sex cannot meet the rigorous standards necessary for military service” as he signed a series of executive orders leading to the banning of transgender people from serving in his country's Armed Forces.

“The pursuit of military excellence cannot be diluted to accommodate political agendas or other ideologies detrimental to the unit's cohesion,” the Republican leader added. “Recently the Armed Forces have been affected by a radical gender ideology to appease activists who do not care about the requirements of military service, such as physical and mental health,” Trump also noted.

“Beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adopting a gender identity incompatible with a person's sex conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle,” he went on, in line with his message on his inauguration day that “the official policy of the US Government will be that there are only two genders, male and female.” Trump also underlined that “sexes are not changeable and are based on fundamental and incontrovertible reality.” In addition, the Republican administration will also change the term “gender” to “sex,” which is “the immutable biological classification of an individual.”

Despite the media hype, Trump's drive only hits a small percentage of service people, which did not stop it from drawing heavy flak on the grounds that transgender people have been serving successfully for years.

Newly-appointed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who wrote in his book “War on Warriors” that “transgender people should never be allowed to serve“ has been given 60 days to update the medical standards for enlistment and re-enlistment.

The Republican President's instructions also keep males from using or sharing sleeping, changing, or bathing facilities designated for females and vice-versa.

Military analysts have likened Trump's measure to the ”Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy under former President Bill Clinton, whereby gays were allowed to serve provided their sexual orientation was never spoken about publicly.

During his first presidency (2017-2021), Trump's efforts to suppress transgender military personnel were held off by a series of court rulings. Hence, the Pentagon allowed those already serving to stay but barred new enlistments.

When Joseph Biden took office in 2021, he overturned Trump's ban. In addition, medical expenses for transitioning troops were covered.