The Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security Regarding Military Service by Transgender Individuals is the 43rd

presidential memorandum A presidential memorandum (from Latin ''memorare'', 'to remember') is a type of directive issued by the president of the United States to manage and govern the actions, practices, and policies of the various departments and agencies found under ...

signed by

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

on March 23, 2018. The memorandum: * Revokes the Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security. * The

United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (acronym: SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States federal executive departments, executive department of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. Armed Forces, a ...

and

United States Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the ...

may exercise their authority to implement any appropriate policies concerning military service by transgender individuals. On April 13, 2018, the policy was stayed when a federal district court ruled that the 2018 memorandum essentially repeated the same issues as its predecessor order from 2017, that transgender service members (and transgender individuals as a class) were a

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entitled to

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of adverse laws (or at worst, a quasi-suspect class), and ordered that matter continue to a full trial hearing on the legality of the proposed policy. On January 25, 2021, Trump's successor

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

signed an executive order revoking this memorandum.

Enactment

On March 23, 2018, Maj. David Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesman, told the ''

Washington Blade The ''Washington Blade'' is an LGBTQ newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. The ''Blade'' is the oldest LGBTQ newspaper in the United States and third largest by circulation, behind the '' Philadelphia Gay News'' and the '' Gay City New ...

'' that the “DOD will still comply with federal court rulings and continue to assess and retain transgender service members,”. On March 24, 2018, Eastburn said that, given ongoing lawsuits and court rulings on the issue, there would "likely be no immediate impact on transgender service." The Memorandum for Sector Commanders, Battalion Commanders, MEPS Commanders, Directors, and Special Staff Officers, issued December 8, 2017, enacted a policy guidance to recruits to explain how to enlist transgender individuals and states that the memorandum “shall remain in effect until expressly revoked.” On April 18, 2018,

Commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

Paul F. Zukunft Paul Frederick Zukunft (born 30 January 1955) is a retired Admiral (United States), admiral of the United States Coast Guard who served as the 25th Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, commandant. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as t ...

told the

United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security The House Subcommittee on Homeland Security is a standing subcommittee within the House Appropriations Committee. The United States House Committee on Appropriations has joint jurisdiction with the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations ov ...

that the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

would continue to allow transgender members to serve unless specific legislation is passed banning them. On February 6, 2019, Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers, the assistant adjutant general for the

California National Guard The California National Guard (Cal Guard) is part of the National Guard (United States), National Guard of the United States, a dual federal–state military reserve force in the state of California. It has three components: the California Army ...

, told the California Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee that the California National Guard would not remove transgender soldiers and airmen from its ranks.

Lawsuits

There are four lawsuits involving the policy: :* '' Jane Doe v. Trump'' :* '' Stone v. Trump'' :* '' Karnoski v. Trump'' :* '' Stockman v. Trump'' On April 13, 2018, the policy was stayed in '' Karnoski vs. Trump'' (Western District of Washington), when the court ruled that the 2018 memorandum essentially repeated the same issues as its predecessor order from 2017, that transgender service members (and transgender individuals as a class) were a

entitled to

of adverse laws (or at worst, a quasi-suspect class), and ordered that matter continue to a full trial hearing on the legality of the proposed policy. The government petitioned the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

in November 2018 to reverse the stay while the cases are pending. The Court, in a 5–4 order along ideological lines issued in January 2019, agreed to lift the stay while they continued to deliberate on the merits of the cases.

Repeal

On January 25, 2021, President Joe Biden held a meeting with Secretary of Defense

Lloyd Austin Lloyd James Austin III (born August 8, 1953) is a retired United States Army four-star General (United States), general who served as the 28th United States Secretary of Defense, United States secretary of defense from 2021 to 2025. Before ...

and afterwards signed an executive order which lifted the transgender military ban.

References

{{LGBT rights in the United States 2018 in American law Gender policy of Donald Trump Legal discrimination against transgender people in the United States Transgender history in the United States History of LGBTQ civil rights in the United States Transgender people and the United States military 2018 in LGBTQ history First Trump administration controversies United States presidential directives LGBTQ military history in the United States

Enactment

Lawsuits

Repeal

See also

References