Trans troops say Pentagon causing chaos with sudden policy reversal (Task & Purpose)

From Task & Purpose: Transgender troops say Pentagon is causing chaos with sudden policy reversal (2025-03-03) (archive):

Holder is among thousands of transgender service members who say they are angry, disillusioned and anxious after Pentagon moves that appear to mean the end of their time in uniform. They say they have worked hard to serve their country and meet standards of military service — standards the Pentagon set for them in a series of policies dating back to 2016 — and now that work is being thrown away and the rug pulled out from under them. […]

“Service by these individuals is not in the best interests of the Military Services and is not clearly consistent with the interests of national security,” the memo filed in the lawsuit says. […]

Lindsay Church, a Navy veteran and executive director of Minority Veterans of America, noted that “beyond the baseline inhumanity of the policy”, the sudden separation directive will lead to negative impacts on the transition to civilian life. They noted that transgender veterans face higher risks of housing and health issues as well as suicide. A 2019 study found that “transgender veterans die by suicide at twice the rate of their cisgender veteran peers and approximately 5.85 times the rate of the general population.”

One recent veteran suicide gained attention. On Jan. 27, nonbinary Army veteran Elisa Rae Shupe killed themselves at a parking garage used by the Syracuse VA, less than a week after being discharged. Shupe, who served nearly two decades in uniform, became the first American to get legal recognition as nonbinary. Syracuse.com first reported on Shupe’s death. A witness Task & Purpose spoke with confirmed that Shupe’s body was wrapped in the transgender pride flag. Several vigils have been held for Shupe in multiple cities since then. […]

Beyond concerns over mental and physical health, transgender troops also face the upcoming loss of their jobs. The policy directs separation in roughly 60 days. The Pentagon also said that service members who choose to leave voluntarily have a 30-day window to do so. They will be eligible for voluntary separation pay. As a result, many military members said they are looking at major life changes. […]

Others noted that losing troops, particularly those with experience and specific training, could cause harm for military effectiveness. Holder noted that her unit has to plan for losing several of its members as a result of the ban, including linguists with years of experience.

  • Attachment: ECF No. 63-1 in Talbott v. Trump, 1:25-cv-00240, (D.D.C. Feb. 26, 2025) [PDF]
    • Title: Memorandum for Senior Pentagon Leadership/Commanders of the Combatant Commands/Defense Agency and DOD Field Activity Directors; Additional Guidance on Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness
    • Author: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense; Darin S. Selnick (“Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness”)
    • Date: February 26, 2025

Wisconsin Republicans introduce four anti-trans bills following Trump executive orders: “In six months you’re going to have to stop taking medications you’re currently on”

Wisconsin Examiner: Following Trump executive orders, Wisconsin Republicans introduce slate of anti-trans bills (2025-03-03) (archive):

Wisconsin Republicans are again turning their focus towards LGBTQ+ youth, especially those who are transgender, introducing bills that would prohibit gender-affirming care for youth, ban students from playing on certain sports teams and mandate that school districts get permission from parents when using different names and pronouns for students.

The four bills come as President Donald Trump has signed a slate of executive orders targeting transgender people. The bills have received pushback from the Wisconsin Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus, the Transgender Parent and Non-Binary Advocacy Caucus and LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations.

Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit), chair of the LGBTQ+ caucus, told the Wisconsin Examiner that the bills are “part of broader national Republican effort” to attack trans people.

“Republicans are now trying to essentially legislate trans people out of existence by denying medically necessary life-saving care, by preventing people from playing team sports, by trying to make it harder for people to be called by the name and pronouns that they go by when they’re in school,” Spreitzer said. […]

Spreitzer noted that those under 18 who have been receiving care would also have to stop receiving it. The bill would include a six-month period before it goes into effect which would be meant for health care providers to discontinue care for minor patients

“People are going to essentially be told in six months you’re going to have to stop taking medications you’re currently on, and you’re going to have to go through puberty as a sex that you don’t identify with. That is going to create incredible trauma for those young people,” Spreitzer said.

Mitr Clinic in Hyderabad, the first comprehensive trans health clinic in India, closed down four days after Trump’s executive order 14169 pausing foreign aid

‘We were told overnight to wind up’: Transgender clinic in Hyderabad feels the pinch of Trump’s USAID cuts (The Indian Express, 2025-03-03) (archive):

On January 20, United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively “pausing” US foreign development assistance for 90 days. The ripples of this order were felt soon in a medical clinic in Hyderabad, Telangana, which had been running for over four years on funds from the United States Agency for International Development or USAID.

Mitr Clinic, the first comprehensive transgender health clinic in the country, closed down on January 24, four days after Trump’s executive order. Reacting to the clinic’s closure, the world’s richest man and senior advisor to the Trump administration, Elon Musk, wrote on X: “That’s what American tax dollars were funding.”

Meanwhile, a board, quickly printed on an A4 paper, greets visitors at the clinic at the YMCA crossroads in Narayanguda now. In four languages – English, Telugu, Hindi and Urdu – the grim announcement says, “Clinic will be closed until further instructions.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, Rachana Mudraboyina, a transwoman who used to work as a consultant at the clinic, said, “We were told overnight that the clinic will cease to function.” Another worker at the clinic, who requested anonymity, said, “We are still getting calls from community members seeking help for their medical needs. We remain mute, helpless.”

Trump admin: Trans servicemembers must quit Air Force by March 26 (The Advocate)

Trump administration says trans service members have until March 26 to quit Air Force (The Advocate, 2025-03-02) (archive) [emphasis added]:

The Trump administration has escalated its efforts to purge transgender service members from the military, urging them to voluntarily separate by March 26—or face an uncertain future.

The directive, outlined in a March 1 memorandum from the Department of the Air Force, was filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as part of Talbott v. Trump, a legal challenge brought by GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. The memo, signed by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Gwendolyn R. DeFilippi, states that individuals with gender dysphoria are “incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service.”

Transgender service members “are encouraged to elect to separate voluntarily no later than 26 March 2025,” the memo states. “Service members eligible for voluntary separation pay will be paid at a rate that is twice the amount for which the service member would have been eligible under involuntary separation pay.” The memo applies explicitly to Air Force and Space Force members, though other branches are expected to follow suit.

The document also confirms that previous waivers allowing them to use facilities and grooming standards consistent with their gender identity have been revoked effective immediately. Transgender personnel must now adhere to so-called “biological sex” standards for uniforms, grooming, fitness requirements, and access to showers, bathrooms, and lodging, it notes.

  • Attachment: ECF No. 67-1 in Talbott v. Trump, 1:25-cv-00240, (D.D.C. Mar. 2, 2025) [PDF]
    • Title: MEMORANDUM FOR ALMAJCOM-ALFLDCOM-FOA-DRU/CC DISTRIBUTION C; Additional Guidance for Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness”
    • Author: Department of the Air Force, Office of the Assistant Secretary; Gwendolyn R. DeFilippi, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs
    • Date: March 1, 2025

Introduction: Welcome to Gender Ideology

I’m Zinnia Jones (she/her), a trans woman, researcher, and activist in Orlando, Florida. I transitioned in 2012 and have volunteered myself since then as a community advocate for transgender people collectively. I have spent years trying to give trans people the resources we need to survive. And for a time, it was good. But because of the current crisis of transphobia and far-right politics corroding trans rights near-daily in the United States, it is now necessary to document and track these events as they occur.

Gender Ideology with Zinnia Jones will provide an index of political attacks on trans people’s existence, showing why the specific events of today, yesterday, or this week were particularly alarming, disastrous, threatening, frightening, calamitous, and a danger to the basic integrity of trans life. This is our gender ideology: survival. ⬣