After the Supreme Court ruled earlier this week in favor of the Trump administration’s ban on transgender soldiers, the Pentagon said in a document released Thursday that it will start immediately removing 1,000 transgender service members from the military.
According to the letter, service members who experience gender dysphoria or have a history of it may freely decide to leave the military.
Service members have until June 6 to self-identify for voluntary separation, while active component service members have until July 7 to do so.
The military will start to involuntary separate transgender military troops after the self-identification deadline closes.
In a video address about the directive, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth declared, “This is the president’s agenda, this is what the American people voted for, and we’re going to relentlessly pursue it.”
According to a statement from Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, the roughly 1,000 military personnel who are scheduled for prompt removal had previously self-identified as having been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
According to reports, 4,240 service personnel have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. An estimated 14,707 transgender Americans were serving in military, according to earlier research. There are about 2.1 million soldiers.
Trump, who led an anti-transgender campaign, signed an executive order in his first week in office ordering the Pentagon to ban transgender service members.
Read Also: Millions Could Lose Benefits as Trump Plans to End Key Savings Program
Trump claimed that the U.S. policy to “establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity and integrity” was incompatible with Americans with gender dysphoria serving in the military.
There are very few instances in which transgender service members can continue to serve in the military if there is a “compelling government interest.”
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Tuesday in support of the Trump administration’s power to implement the ban after transgender service members filed a legal challenge to the policy. There was no explanation.
Read Also: Biden Responds to Harris Comment, Denies Making ‘No Daylight’ Statement
Hegseth celebrated on social media upon the release of the high court’s ruling.
