[4] In the 2010s, these efforts culminated in coordinated campaigns and policy changes, including the July 13, 2015 announcement by United States Secretary of Defense Ash Carter that they would begin the process of lifting the ban on transgender service members in the U.S.

Shortly after his injury he was admitted into the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home in Quincy, Illinois, where, in his application, he gave his birth name as Jennie Hodgers, and stated that he was born in Ireland on December 25, 1844.

[24] In 2013, Captain Sage Fox, who had enlisted in the Army 1993 and taken time off after transitioning to the Reserves in 2012 to undergo sex reassignment surgery, was ordered to resume active duty, despite policies blocking the service of transgender personnel.

[25] On March 13, 2014, an advisory panel organized by the Palm Center, a research institute based at San Francisco State University, released a report that found no compelling medical reason for placing limitations on military service by transgender individuals.

It said DoD rules that prevented enlistment or continued service by transgender individuals were based on outmoded and untenable ideas about their psychological and physical fitness, and it dismissed concerns about the costs of medical care.

[30] Later in May, the ban on Medicare coverage for gender reassignment surgery, which had been in place since 1981, was lifted in response to a lawsuit filed in 2013 on behalf of Denee Mallon, a 74-year-old transgender Army veteran.

The Army issued a directive that protected transgender soldiers from being dismissed by mid-level officers by requiring the decision for discharge to be made by the service's top civilian for personnel matters.

"[40] In the wake of these directives, in July 2015, Secretary Carter ordered the creation of a Pentagon working group "to study over the next six months the policy and readiness implications of welcoming transgender persons to serve openly".

Jim Inhofe [R-OK] and John McCain [R-AZ], but he delivered an implementation plan to allow open service by transgender people for Secretary Carter's review as one of his final accomplishments as acting Undersecretary.

RAND concluded that calling for "strong leadership support", providing diversity-related "education and training to the entire force", and developing and enforcing "a clear anti-harassment policy" were key best practices.

[75] On June 28, 2017, during the House Armed Services Committee's markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018, Representative Vicky Hartzler introduced an amendment that sought to reinstate a ban on transgender individuals serving openly in the military.

[85] After the amendment was defeated, Representative Trent Franks (R-AZ) stated "it seems to me, and all due respect to everyone, that if someone wants to come to the military, potentially risk their life to save the country, that they should probably decide whether they're a man or woman before they do that."

[96] Similarly, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford noted his surprise at the announcement, saying that "When asked, I will state I was not consulted" in emails dated July 27, 2017 leaked to BuzzFeed News in February 2018.

[95] After the president's tweets, Hartzler stated in an interview that "this was the right call by our commander in chief, to make sure every defense dollar goes toward meeting the threats that we are facing in the world ... [T]he entire policy ... is a detriment to our readiness.

"[99] Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced an amendment to NDAA on July 27, 2017, which would prohibit the involuntary discharge, cessation of health care benefits, or changes in responsibility or position (other than promotion, routine reassignment, or deployment) of transgender troops until sixty days after Congress received the results of the six-month study proposed by Secretary Mattis.

Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, criticized the forthcoming memo for imposing a double standard on transgender troops, calling it "a recipe for disruption, distraction, and waste".

[113] Mattis named the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick M. Shanahan, and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Paul Selva, to head the advisory panel of experts tasked with providing recommendations.

[114][115] Despite the Interim Guidance, the Presidential Memorandum has attracted significant legal and legislative opposition: In November 2017, the Defense Health Agency for the first time approved payment for sex reassignment surgery for an active-duty U.S. military service member.

"[128]: 2  As a named defendant, Secretary Mattis does not have authority to change the preliminary injunction order of October 30, which reverts policy to the status quo prior to the Presidential Memorandum of August 25, and accessions are set to start on January 1, 2018.

[129] On December 11, Judge Kollar-Kotelly denied the motion for partial stay, noting it took three weeks for USDOJ to file the first appeal, and that she "would have expected Defendants to act with more alacrity" if the January 1, 2018 deadline for accession was unmanageable.

"[157] Among other declarations, the new memorandum revoked the prior memo of August 25, 2017 and authorized Secretaries Mattis and Kirstjen Nielsen to "implement any appropriate policies concerning military service by transgender individuals".

[191] On June 22, 2023, the U.S. Army profiled Major Rachel Jones, a transgender woman, on their website and social media accounts to promote mental health care in the military.

[193] In December 2024, US President Joe Biden signed into law the yearly comprehensive defence authorisation bill - with a provision that explicitly legally bans gender-affirming healthcare for children and minors within military families under Tricare.

[194][195] On November 25, 2024, at 12:01 AM GMT, The Times, in a report by Alistair Dawber, revealed that Donald Trump would issue an executive order on January 20, 2025, his first day back in office, that would lead to the removal of all transgender service members from the U.S. military, according to defense sources.

The executive order mandates the Department of Defense to update its medical standards, emphasizing military readiness and lethality, and to discontinue the use of pronouns that do not align with an individual's biological sex.

[207] On January 28, 2025, the United States Navy issued a memo directing recruiters to reject all transgender applicants, aligning with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump the day before.

[209] On February 6, 2025, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF) and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging the constitutionality of the transgender military ban.

The memo reaffirmed the Department of Defense's (DoD) mission to maintain strict mental and physical standards, stating that efforts to divide troops along identity lines would not be tolerated.

[228] An internal review by the Department of Defense in 2018 estimated that the total cost of gender-affirming surgeries for service members since the policy change allowing transgender individuals to serve openly was approximately $2 million.

[229] The New England Journal of Medicine published an analysis in 2017 estimating that the cost of gender-affirming surgeries for transgender service members would amount to approximately $4.2 million annually, which represented a negligible fraction of the military healthcare budget.