Enabling All Qualified Americans To Serve Their Country in Uniform
The order reverses the prior administration's ban on transgender military service by revoking the 2018 Presidential Memorandum, immediately prohibiting involuntary separations or discharges based on gender identity, and directing the Department of Defense and Coast Guard to restore open transgender service.
It establishes that any transgender individual who meets applicable military standards has a right to serve openly and without discrimination, representing a direct reversal of binding federal military policy.
What this order does
What it orders
The order revokes the March 23, 2018 Presidential Memorandum that barred transgender individuals from military service in almost all circumstances. It immediately prohibits the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security (for the Coast Guard) from involuntarily separating, discharging, or denying reenlistment to service members on the basis of gender identity. Both secretaries are directed to align all regulations, directives, and orders with the new open-service policy and to establish a process allowing service members to transition gender while serving.
The order also requires the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security to identify and review records of service members previously separated or discharged due to gender identity, issue guidance on correcting those records to remove injustices, and where appropriate offer those individuals an opportunity to rejoin the military if they meet current entry standards. A progress report to the President is required within 60 days of signing.
Who it affects
Transgender Americans currently serving in the Armed Forces or the Coast Guard, those previously discharged or separated based on gender identity, and prospective transgender recruits who wish to enlist. The Department of Defense and Coast Guard are also directly affected through new mandates on policy, records review, and reporting.
Why it matters
Transgender service members who were at risk of involuntary discharge gain immediate protection. Those previously separated solely because of gender identity may have their records corrected and could be offered reinstatement. New transgender recruits who meet military standards face no legal bar to enlistment.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The prohibition on involuntary separations takes effect immediately upon signing. The broader policy alignment — updating all regulations, orders, and directives — proceeds after the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Homeland Security consult with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Record review and correction guidance flows downward: the secretaries first issue guidance to military department secretaries, who then direct the boards for correction of military records. The 60-day progress report to the President is the primary accountability mechanism; the order contains no penalty for missed deadlines and no severability or sunset clause.
Actions and deadlines
- Immediately prohibit involuntary separations, discharges, and denials of reenlistment based on gender identity across the Armed Forces
- Immediately prohibit involuntary separations, discharges, and denials of reenlistment based on gender identity within the Coast Guard
- Take all necessary steps to align department directives, orders, regulations, and policies with open transgender service policy, including establishing a gender transition process
- Identify and examine records of service members involuntarily separated or discharged based on gender identity
- Issue guidance to military department secretaries on correcting records of previously separated transgender service members to remove injustice
- Direct military department secretaries to provide supplemental guidance to records correction boards on reviewing applications from previously separated transgender service members
- Report to the President on progress implementing this order and the open-service policy