The Pentagon is digging its heels in on enforcing a Trump-era ban that would bar many transgender people from serving in the U.S. military, despite a federal court order saying the policy reeks of bias.
On Friday, the Department of Defense released fresh guidance outlining how it plans to implement the controversial ban, which targets service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The memo, issued by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, lays out a process of combing through medical records and administering self-assessment questionnaires within 45 days to identify those who would be deemed unfit under the policy. According to the guidance, service members showing “marked incongruence and clinically significant distress” for at least six months—as defined by the American Psychiatric Association—would be disqualified.
The Department didn’t waste time, either. Along with the memo, it filed a request to lift a federal judge’s temporary block on the ban. The government insists the policy is grounded in medical standards—not identity discrimination. But Judge Ana Reyes already rejected that argument earlier this week when she issued her blistering order stopping the ban in its tracks, describing the policy as “soaked in animus.”
Trans Rights in the Crosshairs
The legal tug-of-war follows years of fierce pushback from LGBTQ advocates and service members who say the ban is nothing but a smokescreen for discrimination. Critics argue that framing the issue as a matter of medical readiness ignores the core problem: the targeting of people for being trans, plain and simple.
By zeroing in on gender dysphoria, the military is creating a policy that disproportionately affects transgender individuals, even those who are fully capable of serving. The administration’s claim that it’s about medical diagnoses doesn’t hold up when the data and history show a pattern of exclusion based on identity.
“This is not about readiness. It’s about prejudice,” one LGBTQ advocate told us. “And it sends a chilling message to every queer person who wants to serve their country with pride.”
The Department of Justice, in its Friday filing, asked the judge to at least keep her order on hold while they appeal. But the attempt to revive the policy signals an ongoing battle between the courts, the Pentagon, and a trans community that refuses to be erased from public service.
A Dangerous Precedent
At stake is far more than military policy. If successful, this ban could embolden similar medical-justified exclusions across federal and state institutions—posing threats to healthcare access, employment rights, and civil protections for trans people nationwide. The LGBTQ community has long been under siege from bureaucratic maneuvering cloaked in clinical language.
The Pentagon’s move underscores the need for constant vigilance. Legal protections can’t be taken for granted when anti-trans sentiment is being dressed up as regulation. And while the courts offer a buffer, they are not an impenetrable shield.
For LGBTQ Americans—especially trans service members—this fight is personal. It’s about visibility, equality, and the right to exist and serve like anyone else. No memo can hide the fact that this ban, in its essence, is yet another attempt to push the community out of the frame.