By Joshua Arnold

“Individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of … gender dysphoria are no longer eligible for military service,” according to a Pentagon memo providing “Additional Guidance on Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” revealed in a court filing Wednesday. The policy requires all servicemembers to abide by the standards associated with their biological sex and gives departments 30 days to commence separation procedures for members of the armed forces with gender dysphoria.

“The medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service,” explained the memo, signed by Darin S. Selnick, who is “performing the duties of” the

Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.

People with gender dysphoria have significantly higher rates of other mental health disorders, related to the general population. Attempts to transition usually involve indefinite hormonal injections, and it can involve extensive elective plastic surgeries.

Such medical issues are a distraction from the military’s warfighting mission, and people who wish to prioritize an attempted gender transition would be freer to pursue their objective if they were not in the military.

In addition, the policy continues, “The Department [of Defense] only recognizes two sexes: male and female. An individual’s sex is immutable, unchanging during a person’s life. All Service members will only serve in accordance with their sex.”

In keeping with this recognition of biological reality, the Pentagon will now judge males as males and females as females. “Where a standard, requirement, or policy depends on whether the individual is a male or female (e.g., medical fitness for duty, physical fitness and body fat standards; berthing, bathroom, and shower facilities; and uniform and grooming standards), all persons will be subject to the standard, requirement, or policy associated with their sex,” the policy states.

The Pentagon will also require the accurate usage of titles and pronouns, a sharp departure from the pronoun anarchy promoted in the military under President Biden. In fact, it explicitly cancels policies dealing with transgender military servicemembers adopted under former Presidents Biden (2023 and 2021), Trump (2019), and Obama (2016).

The policy then outlines the process by which people with gender dysphoria will be fairly but firmly separated from the military. The disqualifying factors are clear: either a psychiatric diagnosis of gender dysphoria, or a history of cross-sex hormones or genital gender reassignment surgeries — both of which create permanent, physiological changes. The timeline is also clear: military departments have 30 days to “establish procedures and implement steps to identify Service members” disqualified under the policy, and then 30 days to “begin separation actions.”

The date on which the policy was adopted is not apparent from the court filing, but it did take effect immediately, sometime since January 20.

The policy does not categorize gender dysphoria as a moral failing but as a medically disqualifying factor, like blindness or dyslexia. It thus allows people with gender dysphoria, absent other blemishes on their record, to obtain an honorable discharge and keep any pay or benefits they would otherwise have.

Thus, the point of the policy is not to punish servicemembers with gender dysphoria, but to promote military readiness and warfighting capabilities. “Gender dysphoria is incompatible with military service” because it “is not in the best interests of the Military Services and is not clearly consistent with the interests of national security,” the policy explains.

To further underscore this purpose, the policy provides a waiver process in cases where “there is a compelling Government interest in retaining the Service member that directly supports warfighting capabilities.” Such individuals must demonstrate “36 consecutive months of stability in the Service member’s sex without clinically significant distress or impairment,” and “that he or she has never attempted to transition to any sex,” and they must be “willing and able to adhere to all applicable standards, including the standards associated with the Service member’s sex.”

The DoD adopted its policy on transgender-identifying servicemembers in compliance with President Trump’s Day One executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

In response to the news, the Modern Military Association of America, an LGBTQ military advocacy group, called the policy “both medically unsound and a blatant disregard for the proven capabilities and dedication of transgender individuals who have served and continue to serve with distinction,” adding that it “it sends a damaging message to the world about the values of the United States.”

Therein lies the problem with the Biden administration’s approach. The military is not supposed to be a vehicle for transmitting American values around the world. That is the State Department’s job. The military’s singular focus should be fighting and winning wars.

In fact, it was the Biden administration’s hijacking of the military as an instrument to promote transgender ideology that sent not only a damaging message, but an insulting one — not only to other countries but also to America’s own servicemembers. During the Biden administration, military recruitment numbers plummeted year after year.

Various excuses were suggested for the decline, but the true reason was a lack of enthusiasm among military-age Americans about pledging themselves to an institution that had been captured by woke nonsense. This became evident when, after Trump’s election victory, the U.S. Army posted its best recruiting numbers in more than a decade. Nothing changed except the political leadership of the military, yet recruitment increased dramatically.

Consistent with this more compelling vision of military readiness — one that recognizes biological realities — the Pentagon is also taking steps to scrub “all DoD news and feature articles, photos, and videos that promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell ordered public relations staff on Wednesday to remove such content from public-facing websites by March 5, although they will be retained “consistent with records management requirements.”

The directive also applies to social media content — a much more ambitious undertaking — particularly singling out social media content generated during the Biden administration.

If DoD staff “cannot remove DEI content from DoD social media accounts by March 5, 2025, they must temporarily remove from public display all news articles, photos and videos published between January 20, 2021 and January 19, 2025, until the content is fully reviewed and DEI content removed,” the memo states. “While DEI-related content outside of this date range must also be removed, articles, photos, and videos from the last four years are the immediate priority to align DoD communication with the current Administration.”

Like our adversaries, the Trump administration clearly recognizes that woke ideology is a military killer. It’s committed to restoring the military to its mission, projecting American power around the globe, and thus making the whole world safer. So far, the evidence seems to show that Americans are, on the whole, excited about that shift.

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.