US President-elect Donald Trump has added to the growing fears of the LGBTQIA+ community in the US with reports that he is planning an executive order to remove transgender members from the US military.
Transgenders will be medically discharged, which means they will be deemed "unfit" to serve, The Sunday Times reported quoting officials.
The 78-year-old leader had imposed a similar order during his first term as US President; he had prevented transgenders from joining the armed forces but had allowed those already serving. However, according to the report, this time, transgenders currently serving also face expulsion from the military.
The executive order may come on his first day back as President on January 20, the report claims.
There are reportedly around 15,000 transgenders actively serving in the US military. When President Joe Biden had lifted Trump's ban on transgenders in the military, around 2,200 service personnel were diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and several other personnel identified as a different gender to what they were born as, the report said.
Trump, who has repeatedly dismissed the inclusion of transgenders in the community, has a key vision: To rid America of perceived "wokeness" and "left-wing indoctrination".
Since his first term, the US President-elect has said that he would cut money to "any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on children". He also wants to keep transgender athletes out of girls' sports and to forbid classroom lessons on gender identity.
Now, Trump's defence pick Pete Hegseth - who will be in charge of the US military - also has dismissive views of the transgenders. He has forcefully argued that steps to incorporate women and transgender personnel across the military are eroding the US security, reported The Washington Post.
Earlier this month, Trump's Vice President-elect JD Vance had triggered a row by making controversial remarks on transgender and nonbinary people, suggesting that some white children are incentivised to "become" trans to get college admissions into Ivy Leagues.
"If you are a middle-class or upper-middle-class white parent, and the only thing that you care about is whether your child goes into Harvard or Yale, obviously that pathway has become a lot harder for a lot of upper-middle class kids...The one way that those people can participate in the DEI (Diversity, equity, and inclusion) bureaucracy in this country is to be trans," he said during a podcast with Joe Rogan.
Scott Bessent, Donald Trump's US Treasury Pick, Fuels Global Relief Rally Vs Dollar
Matthew Burgess and Michael G. Wilson, BloombergTulsi Gabbard, Trump's Intelligence Pick, Set To Face Tough Questions
Alicia Diaz, BloombergJay Bhattacharya, Born In Kolkata, Emerges As Trump's Top Pick To Head US Health Agency
Written by Sanstuti Nath