Military issues policy banning trans military service, implementing Trump EO

The policy was filed Wednesday evening in a challenge to the executive order and will be subject to legal challenges.

The Department of Defense issued its new military policy on Wednesday banning all transgender people who are living as themselves from joining or continuing to serve in the military. Under the policy, “separation actions” of current service members who are transgender are to begin within the next two months.

The policy, implementing President Donald Trump's anti-trans military executive order, was filed Wednesday night on the docket in one of the cases challenging the executive order.

The policy — “Service Members and Applicants for Military Service who Have a Current Diagnosis or History of, or Exhibit Symptoms Consistent with, Gender Dysphoria“ — was issued by Darin Selnick, an official “Performing the Duties of Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.”

According to his Defense Department bio, “Mr. Selnick leverages his extensive government and non-government experience advocating for veterans to position Service members for productive post-separation lives from the first day they put on a uniform.”

On Wednesday, Selnick “advocated for veterans” by creating many more of them — putting in place a policy that would kick all trans service members out of the military.

Anyone with a current diagnosis of gender dysphoria, anyone with a “history” of a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and anyone who “exhibit[s] symptoms consistent with” gender dysphoria “are no longer eligible for military service” and “will be processed for separation from military service,” except for, on “a case-by-case basis,“ if the government grants a “waiver” — which requires the government to state that “there is a compelling Government interest in retaining the Service member that directly supports warfighting capabilities” and the service member to meet three conditions:

That’s only confusing — and only potentially seems good — if you don’t know what the policy means by “the Service member’s sex.“

According to an earlier part of the policy:

As such, the alleged “exception” to allow transgender service really is not.

It only allows a person who has — or has exhibited symptoms consistent with — gender dysphoria to continue serving if the government makes the “compelling” interest finding and the person seeking to continue serving has never attempted to transition, is willing to live as their biological sex, and can show three years of “stability” without “clinically significant distress” living as that biological sex.

The next steps for current transgender service members are to begin quickly.

The secretaries of the military department are to “[e]stablish procedures and implement steps to identify” covered transgender service members “within 30 days” of the Wednesday memorandum.

Then, within 30 days of “identification,” the service branch secretary is to “begin separation actions” for all not granted the all-but-nonexistent waiver policy.

Ultimately, this is a “don’t live honestly, don’t tell, or we will pursue” policy.

In the case challenging the executive order before U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, earlier briefing and hearings over the executive order will now be supplemented. Per earlier status conferences and orders, we now will expect an amended complaint and further preliminary injunction request to be filed that include information about — and challenges to — the policy. The Justice Department will then respond, and, as of now, a hearing will be held March 13.

[Update, February 28: In a "clarifying" memo dated February 28, the military stated that there are to be no efforts to "identify" trans service members "until March 26."

At the same time, however, the memo "encourage[s]" trans service members "to elect to separate voluntarily" by then.]