Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued an ultimatum to transgender service members this afternoon, advising them to voluntarily resign by June 6, 2025, or face eventual involuntary termination. He released the statement in a post to social media two days after he denigrated trans service members in a speech to special forces operators, saying, “No more dudes in dress. We’re done with the s**t.”
Hegseth referenced Trump’s executive order and policies barring trans service members from serving in the military in today’s video statement.
“It was challenged in court, and, of course, we appealed. And two days ago at the Supreme Court, our policy was upheld,” Hegseth said. “And so we’re going to continue to advance that policy here at the Defense Department. So, in accordance with the policy now reinstated, service members who have a current diagnosis or history of or exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria may elect to separate voluntarily. There’s a timeline here, and eventually, involuntarily if necessary.”
The official directive provided more specificity to the new directive.
“The eligibility window to self-identify for voluntary separation is extended to June 6, 2025, for Active Component Service members and July 7, 2025, for Reserve Component Service members,” the directive states.
Those service members who previously self-identified for voluntary separation will undergo immediate processing for their discharges.
Hegseth also left no doubt about the speed and seriousness of the administration’s resolve in banning transgender warriors from the U.S. military, warning he will initiate “involuntary separation processes” for those who have not yet resigned.
The Pentagon will now begin moving up to 1,000 out transgender service members out of the military in addition to the option to self-identify, the Associated Press reports.
Hegseth’s comments and the directive come only days after the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the Trump administration’s request to immediately enforce its ban on transgender military service, allowing the Pentagon to begin discharging service members with a diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria and to deny enlistment to transgender Americans. The unsigned order, issued over the dissent of the court’s three liberal justices, lifts a nationwide preliminary injunction put in place in one of several legal challenges to the order.
Also, days earlier, Hegseth made headlines delivering the keynote address at the Special Operations Forces Week 2025 taking place in Tampa, Florida. He made the inflammatory remarks in the context of returning the “warrior ethos” to the military.
“Everything starts and ends with warriors, from training to the battlefield,” Hegseth said, according to the official Department of Defense transcript. “We are leaving wokeness and weakness behind. No more pronouns. No more climate change obsession. No more emergency vaccine mandates. No more dudes in dresses, we’re done with that s**t.”
This story is developing…
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