How many transgender people are in the military? What data shows

Military

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Suzanne Blake

By Suzanne Blake

Reporter

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A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump's order that would outlaw any transgender people from serving in the military.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C. ruled that the order would violate the Constitution, but data shows very few transgender Americans serve in the armed forces.

Why It Matters

Trump's order issued on January 27 said, "expressing a false 'gender identity' divergent from an individual's sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service."

What to Know

While Reyes' court ruling stops Trump from being able to ban transgender people from the military, the actual data on who serves reveals very few service members are transgender.

Previously, transgender people were not allowed to serve in the military until the Department of Defense reversed that policy in President Barack Obama's second term.

A February 26 memo revealed that the Defense Department spent $52 million between 2015 and 2024 to treat gender dysphoria for active-duty service members.

However, a 2020 study found that only up to 8,000 transgender people served on active duty in the U.S. military. That's out of 1.3 million that were estimated to serve globally that year, or less than 1 percent.

The actual number could be far higher as many service members may not disclose their transgender identity due to social stigma.

A different National Transgender Discrimination Survey found transgender people were twice as likely as members of the general population to serve in the military, at 20 percent compared to just 10 percent of the larger population.

"Indeed, the cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed – some risking their lives – to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them," Reyes wrote in her ruling, adding that the defendants "have not shown they will be burdened by continuing the status quo pending this litigation, and avoiding constitutional violations is always in the public interest."

What People Are Saying

Trump's deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, wrote about the ruling on social media platform X: "District court judges have now decided they are in command of the Armed Forces...is there no end to this madness?"

Robert Shapiro, a political science professor at Columbia University, told Newsweek: "Trump's order had banned transgender troops from the military and enlistments of them. The reasons for the ban was apparently because of the alleged medical and psychiatric problems associated with transgender that the military would have to deal with. But there has been no systematic evidence offered for such problems and examples have been cited for the exemplary performance of transgender individuals in the military... Given the difficulties the military has had in meeting recruitment targets, it is odd to ban volunteers who are transgender who genuinely want to serve their country and fought the ban."

What Happens Next

In the aftermath of the ruling, there is still likely to be a contentious debate over the judge's decision and potential legal appeals on Trump's side.

"The court knows that this opinion will lead to heated public debate and appeals. In a healthy democracy, both are positive outcomes," Reyes wrote in her ruling. "We should all agree, however, that every person who has answered the call to serve deserves our gratitude and respect."

The ruling order is on hold until Friday to give the Justice Department time to potentially seek an appeal.

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What to Know

What People Are Saying

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