Did Trump really ban transgender Americans from serving in the military?

THE CLAIM: In a speech this month, Kamala Harris said that former president Donald Trump “banned transgender service members from the military,” a line repeated numerous times by Democrats and media figures over the years.

RATING: 🛑 MOSTLY FALSE 🛑 President Trump’s policy only applied to those experiencing or receiving medical treatment for gender dysphoria, consistent with all all other long-standing U.S. military standards on Service members’ medical requirements and mental health.

Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris recently claimed “if Donald Trump wins in November, he will once again implement policies that target the LGBT community.”

“Just look at what he did in his first term in office,” Harris said before rattling off a series of claims about President Trump’s record. 

We already fact checked one of those claims, that Trump “took away” protections for LGBT patients in the Affordable Care Act. That claim, it turns out, is false.

Let’s look at another one of Harris’ claims in the same speech: that Trump “banned transgender service members from the military.” 

Like the last one, this claim also seems to come from the Human Rights Campaign, a leftwing and Democrat-aligned LGBT group.

But is it true? Let’s look at the facts.

In 2016, President Obama’s Defense Department announced it was ending the long-standing ban on transgender individuals serving openly in the U.S. military, but added a one-year review process to allow the Defense Department to determine the best way to begin accepting transgender recruits. 

In 2017, on the eve of that deadline, newly-inaugurated President Trump’s Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced the policy would be delayed for six months at the request of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to give further time to study how the decision would “affect the readiness and lethality of the force.” 

A month later, President Trump announced he was officially reversing the Obama-era decision. After a year of legal battles over the reversal, in 2018 the Trump Administration announced a revised policy that only disqualified from military service transgender individuals with a “history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria” and who “may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery.” 

In other words, the ban only applied to transgender individuals currently undergoing medical intervention. This is an important distinction, as it is consistent with long-standing U.S. military policy, applicable to all Service members, against recruits with medical diagnoses like diabetes, serious mental health issues, or with other conditions that require treatments.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis elaborated on the new policy in a lengthy report on the factors and considerations that went into the decision. The report notes:

“Based on the work of the panel and the Department’s best military judgment, the Department of Defense concludes that there are substantial risks associated with allowing the accession and retention of individuals with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria and require, or have already undertaken, a course of treatment to change their gender.”

The report continues: 

“Furthermore, the Department also finds that exempting such persons from well-established, mental health, physical health, and sex-based standards, which apply to all Service members, including transgender Service members without gender dysphoria, could undermine readiness, disrupt unit cohesion, and impose an unreasonable burden on the military that is not conducive to military effectiveness and lethality.” 

Notably, the report adds that, “transgender persons without a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria, who are otherwise qualified for service, may serve, like all other Servicemembers, in their biological sex.” 

It’s important to note that not all transgender Americans experience the mental health condition known as “gender dysphoria.” Prohibiting those experiencing and/or receiving medical treatment for gender dysphoria from enlisting in the military is not a “ban” on transgender Americans from serving; rather it’s consistent with long-standing military policy prohibiting anyone with mental or medical issues, transgender or otherwise, from enlisting. 

Interestingly, just days into his presidency, President Biden signed an Executive Order in January 2021 that appeared to agree with Donald Trump’s decision. Although it was hailed by Democrats and media as a reversal of Trump’s so-called transgender ban, the Biden Executive Order changed almost nothing about the Trump-era decision and appeared to affirm his predecessor’s decision.

In that Executive Order, President Biden wrote of reaffirming the military’s commitment to enlist all “qualified” and willing Americans, but stops short at changing what those medical qualifications are.

“The previous administration chose to alter that policy to bar transgender persons, in almost all circumstances, from joining the Armed Forces and from being able to take steps to transition gender while serving,” Biden’s new Executive order claimed. “Therefore, it shall be the policy of the United States to ensure that all transgender individuals who wish to serve in the United States military and can meet the appropriate standards shall be able to do so openly and free from discrimination.”

Biden’s order, however, did not change those existing “appropriate standards,” ones which bar individuals with prolonged medical needs from serving. Instead, Biden referred to statements from the Secretary of Defense in 2016 saying it would be appropriate to create a process, effectively kicking the can down the road. “The Secretary of Defense also concluded that it was appropriate to create a process that would enable service members to take steps to transition gender while serving,” Biden’s Executive Order reads.

Requiring transgender Americans to recognize the physiological differences between biological men and women and serve in their biological sex is also not a “ban” on their ability to serve.

Recognizing physical differences between biological men and women and mental health issues as factors when considering U.S. military unit cohesion and readiness may not fit with the far left’s agenda and demands. But that does not make it a blanket ban on transgender individuals, as Harris suggests. 

Conclusion: Harris’ claim that President Trump “banned” transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military is incorrect. President Trump’s policy only applied to those experiencing or receiving medical treatment for gender dysphoria, consistent with all all other long-standing U.S. military standards on Service members’ medical and mental health. Transgender individuals not experiencing gender dysphoria were still allowed to enlist.