Transgender service members have honorably served in the United States military, and many have been recognized and decorated by the military for outstanding service. At the same time, the US government has flipped positions multiple times regarding its willingness to allow service members who identify as transgender to openly continue serving, or to allow transgender individuals to enter the military. The current administration has issued a transgender ban (Executive Order 14183, 'Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,' Jan. 27, 2025). This ban would prohibit entry and would force out most existing transgender service members or require them to revert and behave according to the gender they were assigned at birth, if they can manage to get special permission to remain.

This ban is currently being challenged in federal courts. Along the way, judges issued stays that have since been overturned by the supreme court, which now allows the military to continue carrying out the new ban. Affected service members have deadlines to self report for voluntary discharge (June 6 for active duty and July 7 for reservists and national guard members). Members that do not elect voluntary discharge will face involuntary separation. Whether members voluntarily or involuntarily separate can impact separation pay and bonus recoupment, where applicable.

These are hard decisions for many people who have dedicated time and energy into serving in the armed forces and have even risked their lives in doing so. There are some support resources available outside of the legal advice offered by the military. The Trans Representation Project tries to match concerned service members at no cost with attorneys trained in this area for consultation/representation and can be contacted at trp@nimj.org.