On Friday (local time), the US Army officially announced that transgender individuals would no longer be allowed to enlist in the military. This decision comes just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order enforcing the ban. The Army also stated that it would discontinue providing gender-affirming medical care for service members.

A post notified, "The US Army will no longer allow transgender individuals to join the military and will stop performing or facilitating procedures associated with gender transition for service members." 

The announcement followed Trump's signing of the order on January 27, which stated that expressing "gender identity" that is "inconsistent with an individual's sex conflicts cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service." The order instructed the Pentagon to establish a policy for transgender service members within 30 days, as reported by CBS News.

As per the US Army, "Effective immediately, all new accessions for individuals with a history of gender dysphoria are paused, and all unscheduled, scheduled, or planned medical procedures associated with affirming or facilitating a gender transition for service members are paused." 

Gender dysphoria refers to the distress experienced when a person's biological sex does not align with their gender identity.

The US Army also stated that individuals with gender dysphoria who have volunteered to serve the country will be treated with dignity and respect.

The announcement was made as Trump pledged to take action against what he called "woke culture," a key promise in his re-election campaign. The term "woke" refers to individuals advocating for racial and social justice but is often used by conservatives to criticise progressive policies.

According to a February 7 memo by CBS News, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth temporarily halted the enlistment of recruits diagnosed with gender dysphoria and suspended all gender-affirming medical care.

The U.S. Army announced shortly after Trump issued broad executive orders stating that the government would only recognise "male and female" as the two sexes. Another order prohibited transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports.

In his first term (2017–2021), Trump initially declared a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. However, instead of ultimately enforcing it, his administration halted new transgender recruits while allowing those already in service to stay.

The U.S. President argued that the military needed to prioritise achieving a "decisive and overwhelming victory" without the added challenge of "tremendous medical costs and disruption" associated with having transgender troops.

When Joe Biden took office in 2021, he reversed the decision.

The U.S. military has approximately 1.3 million active-duty personnel, according to the data of the Department of Defense. While transgender rights advocates estimate there could be up to 15,000 transgender service members, officials suggest the actual number is in the low thousands.