No, Trump's Trans Military Ban Does Not Have A "Waiver" For Openly Trans People Serving

The "waiver" being reported at many outlets for Trump's transgender ban is actually a "waiver" for people who have never transitioned, and are willing to stay closeted.

Ted Eytan/CC BY 2.0

Yesterday, President Donald Trump released his full transgender military ban, applying to all U.S. service members. The policy asserts that being transgender is incompatible with "honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity." Beyond the human toll, the ban will impose significant economic costs, requiring the military to replace transgender personnel and train new recruits to take their place. Mainstream media outlets have widely misreported the ban as containing a "waiver" for transgender people in certain circumstances. However, upon closer examination, this so-called waiver is no exception at all for any openly transgender person. It applies only to individuals who have never transitioned, do not experience dysphoria, and who are willing to remain closeted while serving—a regressive return to a worse version of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

The “waiver” that many media outlets are reporting reads as follows:

In simple terms, a transgender person—or someone suspected of being transgender—can only seek a waiver under highly restrictive conditions: they must have no gender dysphoria for 36 months while serving, must never have attempted to transition, and must adhere to grooming standards based on their assigned sex at birth. In practice, almost no transgender people will qualify. The only individuals eligible are closeted trans people who claim to experience no dysphoria and are willing to remain closeted indefinitely and have been closeted for their entire lives.

This is not a waiver for the 12,000–15,000 openly transgender service members currently serving—it is a waiver for people who were never at risk of being discharged in the first place, save for those suspected of being trans. For everyone else, the mass purge will begin within the next 30 days if the order is not stopped.

Despite this, many mainstream media outlets are misreporting the existence of a "waiver" for transgender service members, leading to widespread misinformation on social media. This misinterpretation has fueled the false belief that openly transgender people currently serving honorably might have a path to remain in the military. NBC News states that transgender service members will be removed “unless they are granted a waiver.” CBS News makes the same claim, as do Reuters and the Associated Press. Much of this confusion appears to stem from a misreading of the waiver’s language. Some outlets may mistakenly believe it applies to a service member’s transitioned sex, but the executive order explicitly defines sex as biological and assigned at birth. In reality, this is not a waiver—it is a requirement to stay closeted.

The ban is cruel in other ways as well. One provision states that transgender service members who voluntarily resign will not have to repay bonuses, but those who attempt to stay and are forcibly separated will be denied any bonuses they have received. This effectively punishes those who fight their dismissal, leaving them potentially saddled with thousands of dollars in debt. As MSNBC columnist Brandon Friedman notes, this policy creates a financial penalty for transgender troops who refuse to go quietly.

The ban will have immediate and damaging consequences for both transgender service members and military readiness across the United States. SPARTA, a leading transgender military advocacy organization, estimates that removing 15,000 transgender service members would result in the loss of an $18 billion capital investment, with the Palm Center projecting an additional $1 billion cost to recruit and train replacements. Notably, up to 73% of these service members are senior enlisted personnel with 12-21 years of experience—expertise that cannot be easily replaced by the U.S. government.

You can see SPARTA’s figures here:

Trump’s military ban is set to take effect within the next 30 to 60 days but is already facing legal challenges. In response to the ban, Judge Ana C. Reyes issued a order this morning demanding evidence that being transgender is "inconsistent with honesty, humility, and integrity," as the executive order claims. Legal experts widely anticipate that she will strike down the ban, but the issue is likely to reach the Supreme Court in the coming weeks. For now, thousands of transgender service members are left in limbo, forced to make impossible choices as their careers, livelihoods, and service to their country hang in the balance.