US Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth has promised to deal with present service members with “dignity and respect”
The Pentagon has introduced an instantaneous ban on transgender people becoming a member of the US navy and has halted all gender transition-related medical procedures for present service members, in keeping with a memo signed by Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The coverage change follows an govt order issued by President Donald Trump in January, which criticized “radical gender ideology” as detrimental to the core mission of the US navy.
“Efficient instantly, all new accessions for people with a historical past of gender dysphoria are paused, and all unscheduled, scheduled, or deliberate medical procedures related to affirming or facilitating a gender transition for service members are paused,” Hegseth acknowledged in a memo dated February 7 and launched on Monday.
The Pentagon has mentioned that present transgender service members will proceed to be “handled with dignity and respect” and that additional tips shall be offered because the coverage is carried out.
The coverage change is predicted to have an effect on solely a small portion of the roughly 1.3 million active-duty personnel within the US navy. Advocacy teams estimate that as much as 15,000 transgender people are presently serving, although official figures recommend the quantity is far decrease, in keeping with Reuters.
Final week, Hegseth, a former Fox Information host and US Nationwide Guard veteran, spoke out in opposition to range initiatives within the armed forces, calling the phrase ‘range is our power’ the “dumbest” in navy historical past. He additionally moved to get rid of the Pentagon’s range, fairness, and inclusion (DEI) packages, arguing that these initiatives are divisive. Moreover, he halted identification month celebrations, together with Black Historical past Month and Girls’s Historical past Month.
“On this division, we are going to deal with everybody equally,” Hegseth instructed Pentagon employees on Friday. “We’ll deal with everybody with equity. We’ll deal with everybody with respect, and we are going to decide you as a person – by your benefit and by your dedication to the staff and the mission.”
Trump first banned transgender individuals from serving within the US navy in 2017. Former President Joe Biden repealed the ban shortly after taking workplace in 2021, just for Trump to reinstate it in his second time period.
Hegseth’s memo was revealed by the Division of Justice as a part of a lawsuit difficult Trump’s govt order.
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