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The Pentagon has launched a new policy that would severely curtail the ability of transgender troops, who have been banned from the armed forces by the Trump administration, to go to the board of their peers to argue for their right to remain in the military, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.
If military desegregation boards decide to allow transgender service members to remain in uniform, commanders can overrule that decision, according to an Oct. 8 memo from Anthony Tata, the Pentagon’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness. This breaks the longstanding policy that boards function independently.
This is the latest move by the Pentagon to kick out transgender troops from the armed forces following an executive order by the President donald trumpHe and the Secretary of Defense pete hegseth He has targeted diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, saying they are an effort to make the military more lethal.
The administration’s policies have faced opposition in the courts as trans soldiers and their supporters say they have proven their eligibility for the military, but the U.S. Supreme Court in May allowed the ban to take effect despite legal challenges.
The new memo, which advocates say was only made available to troops last week, also raises an additional hurdle by requiring that trans service members appear before a separation board in a uniform that matches the sex they were assigned at birth — and if they fail to do so, their absence could be used against them.
Uniform mandate could keep trans soldiers from hearings
According to Emily Starbuck Gerson, spokeswoman for Sparta Pride, an advocacy group for transgender soldiers and veterans, the policy — and especially the uniform mandate — will force many people not to attend their separation board hearings.
“It’s already rigged with essentially a predetermined outcome and then now you’re punishing someone for not showing up because they can’t wear the wrong uniform,” Gerson said.
When asked about the memo, Pentagon Assistant Press Secretary Riley Podleski said that “as a policy, the Department does not comment on ongoing litigation.”
The policy follows a air force The directive, reported by The Associated Press in August, said the separation board cannot independently decide whether to keep or remove transgender troops and must instead “recommend separation of the member” if they have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria — when a person’s biological sex does not match their gender identity.
Gerson said the new policy applying to all services “seems very similar to the one implemented by the Air Force” but added that some of the additional hurdles, such as the uniform mandate, were “concerning.”
“Should the service member not conform to uniform and grooming standards, the Board’s proceedings will continue in the service member’s absence and, as appropriate, the service member’s failure to comply with the standards may be considered when determining whether grounds for separation have been established,” the October memo said.
‘This is a betrayal of the way the army sees me’
Many transgender soldiers have been serving for years and likely do not have the uniform assigned to their sex assigned at birth. And they say it would feel wrong to force them into those uniforms.
logan irelandA master sergeant in the Air Force with 15 years of service, said she has been viewed as a man for most of her adult life and nearly 13 years of military service.
“It would be a betrayal of the way the Army sees me,” he said. “It will have a costume-like effect,” he said.
Ireland, like almost all other transgender soldiers, is on administrative leave, and he sports a long beard.
She said, “Can I wear a skirt or wear a women’s dress uniform? Yes, but does it reflect who I am and what I look like on a daily basis? No, and it creates a lot of confusion.”
Advocate Gerson says the new policy appears contrary to the ideal of a merit-based military promoted by Hegseth.
“It does not take into account the service member’s career history, accomplishments, training and requirements in their field,” he said.
Ireland also noted that the policy “deprives us of the dignity and respect we were promised as we are forced out of a service that once respected our contributions.”
What do military separation boards do?
The boards traditionally give soldiers who are facing separation from the Army a chance to receive a quasi-legal hearing to determine whether that service member still has value to the Army and should remain. Fellow service members hear evidence of what went wrong and about the person’s character, fitness, and performance.
Although this is not a formal court hearing, its structure is very similar. Service members are often represented by attorneys, they may present evidence in their own defense and they may appeal the board’s findings to federal court.
The Pentagon’s policy on separating officials states that they are entitled to a “fair and impartial” hearing, which should be “a forum for the official concerned to present reasons why he or she should not be considered.”
This impartial nature means that boards can sometimes reach surprising conclusions. For example, the commanding officer of the USS McCain, a destroyer that collided with an oil tanker in the Pacific in 2017, killing 10 people, was not recommended for separation in 2019.
Recently, three active duty marine Those who were part of the mob that attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, were also retained.
Priya Rashid, a military attorney who has represented service members before hundreds of desegregation boards, said the fact that commanders can eliminate this process for trans soldiers is a miscarriage of justice.
He said, “Service members who are accused of serious misconduct, violent misconduct, gender-based misconduct… are being afforded more due process protections and more rights and entitlements than this group of people based solely on the administrative label of gender dysphoria.”