President Donald J. Trump Steps Foward to Reinstate Ban on Transgendered Individuals in the Military

Albert D. J. Cashier was born Jennie Irene Hodgers. He was an Irish-born American soldier who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Cashier adopted the identity of a man before enlisting, and maintained it until death. Cashier became famous as one of at least 250 soldiers who were assigned female at birth and enlisted as men to fight in the Civil War. The consistent and nearly lifelong (at least 53 years) commitment to a male identity has prompted some historians to believe that Cashier was a trans man and possibly the first and most recognized transgender soldier to fight in the American Armed Forces.

Step forward to January 22, 2025, Albert D. J. Cashier and the 250 plus transgendered troops that served during the civil war would potentially be kicked out of military service and banned from enlisting under a policy change announced by President Donald J. Trump.

During a speech at the Turning Point Action Conference in December, Trump said he intended to sign an executive order to “get transgender out of the military.”

There are an estimated 9,000 to 14,000 transgender individuals serving in the armed forces, The Associated Press reported.

Trump targeted sensitivities to transgender people when running for the office of president by spending $15.5 million on anti-trans TV ads over a three-week period during his campaign. The effort to again ban transgendered individuals in the military is consistent with his past actions and rhetoric. “Trump did exactly what he said he was going to do, and he made it his top priority on day one,” says Mariah Moore, director of policy and programs at the Transgender Law Center as reported by the Rolling Stone.

Trump's actions on his first day in office did not in and of themselves ban transgender troops from serving. But lawyers who fought Trump's transgender military ban during his first term in office say the actions signal his second administration's values and lay the groundwork for a follow-up executive order banning transgender troops, reports Military.com

"We absolutely expect a more specific order" banning transgender military service, said Shannon Minter to Military.com, the legal director at the San Francisco based National Center for Lesbian Rights, which sued the first Trump administration over its transgender military ban. "Transgender people are still with us and will continue to be part of our society. You can't just disappear them with an executive order. So [Monday's executive order] feels more like a sort of symbolic statement than an offer of any sort of concrete policy or guidance."

Rescinding Biden's order does not repeal the Pentagon's policies allowing transgender troops to serve, but it is a necessary administrative step should Trump later issue a ban, Minter said

President Trump in his inaugural address stated: “This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is color-blind and merit-based. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.… And I will sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. It’s going to end immediately. Our armed forces will be freed to focus on their sole mission—defeating America’s enemies.”

Per his actions Trump appears to be following through with actions verses his rhetoric.

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