As Trump's ban looms, transgender service members defend their fitness to serve

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Axios

11 hours ago


The Pentagon's forced ouster of transgender service members could impact thousands of people and devastate careers, military members and veterans say.

The big picture: While the Trump administration claims its restrictive policies will promote military "readiness," trans soldiers and veterans say the administration's ban is driven by animus rather than evidence — and will mark a substantial loss to the armed services.

Catch up quick: The Pentagon announced earlier this month it would begin removing some 1,000 openly transgender service members and give other active-duty service members 30 days and reservists 60 days to leave or be forced out.

While there is no exact count of the number of transgender people serving, officials have said 4,240 service members have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

The policy comes amid years of whiplash. But for nearly two decades, "don't ask, don't tell," which banned gay, lesbian and bisexual people from serving openly, was the military's policy.

What they're saying: Alaina Kupec, a former Naval intelligence officer, told Axios she thinks "this is a path toward don't ask, don't tell again — and it starts with the transgender community."

"If we use the logic of the president and the secretary of defense, they can make a decision on who is best to serve based on what they think, not what's based on fact," she said.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2025/05/17/trump-transgender-service-members-veterans-ban

[Duncanpup]

1. Is the military a reflection of society.

No not this with this all volunteer military. Where I’m going is in my 3.5 years i only met one dude in my two rifle platoons that came from money everybody else was basically came from the blue collar
sector.
Yet here we are kicking troops out over identity politics and it is bullshit. A lot of the people calling for this never even served yet if you’re medically able to deploy then what is the problem.

It’s kind of like desegregation around Korean conflict will the black soldiers fight. And desegregation proved all the racist wrong. I told dude who was complaining about women in infantry. I said 160 women have graduated RANGER course and several women have graduated Special Forces assessment yet the RANGER course is finest leadership course the army has. Yet it is 62 days of ball crushing existence and the dropout rate is high.

Not sure where I went with this yet it just pisses me off this attack on transgender troops.

If they succeed in doing this and it is not challenged in courts. Next up will be the LGBTQ military members. And there has been LGBTQ in every army from Hannibal crossing the alps to today.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. They are unintentionally (or perhaps intentionally) setting it up

due to the removal and barring of certain "otherwise qualified volunteers" (simply because of the simple-minded and bigoted reason of who they are), to bring back the draft, and that is something that will not go over well.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. This president and Sec. of Defense are incapable of thought.