Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signs the restoring good order and discipline through balance of accountability memorandum at the Pentagon on April 23, 2025. (Madelyn Keech, U.S. Air Force/Defense Department)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon issued a new deadline for transgender troops to voluntarily separate from military service following a Supreme Court ruling earlier this week.
Active-duty transgender troops have until June 6 to begin the process of separating from the armed forces or risk being booted out, according to a memo signed Thursday by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Reserve troops have until July 7. After those dates, the services will begin involuntarily booting out transgender troops.
“This is the president’s agenda. This is what the American people voted for and we’re going to continue to relentlessly pursue it,” Hegseth said in a recorded video shared Thursday on X.
The Defense Department’s “Rapid Response” X account commented in response to the video: “No more pronouns. No more drag shows. No more dudes in dresses. NO MORE TRANS AT THE DOD.”
Approximately 1,000 troops across the services have already self-identified as having been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, according to Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman. The services will begin processing those troops for voluntary separation.
The announcement follows a Supreme Court ruling Tuesday that allows President Donald Trump’s administration to enforce a ban on transgender people in the military, while legal challenges to the policy proceed.
Lawsuits and the court’s ruling were sparked by an executive order signed Jan. 27 by Trump that presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service and could lead to the expulsion of experienced, decorated officers. Trump’s order claims the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”
Hegseth then issued a policy in February that gave the military services 30 days to figure out how they would seek out and identify transgender service members to remove them from the military. The order included troops with a diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria, which is the distress that a person feels because their assigned gender and gender identity don’t match. The medical condition has been linked to depression and suicidal thoughts.
“Service by individuals with a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibiting symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria is not in the best interest of the military services and is not clearly consistent with the interests of national security,” according to the memo signed by Hegseth.
In February, the Army shared on social media that it would halt processing new recruit candidates with a history of gender dysphoria.
Two transgender airmen in March filed a suit in federal court in New Jersey to try to block the Air Force from firing them. The judge blocked their impending dismissal for 14 days, keeping the men in service as the broader challenge to the Trump administration’s policy proceeded.
The Navy, also in March, said sailors and Marines who are no longer eligible for military service, as well as potential new recruits, might be considered for a retention or recruitment waiver on a case-by-case basis provided there is a “compelling government interest” in that individual’s ability to support “warfighting capabilities” directly. It is unclear whether that policy still stands.
Roughly 2,000 transgender people serve in the military, representing less than 1% of active-duty service members. There are about 4,200 troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria serving in the active-duty, National Guard and Reserve forces, a senior defense official said in February.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
