No branch of the U.S. military should exclude a qualified person from service because of their gender identity. Fitness for duty should be determined the same way for every service member, through individualized medical and readiness review, not through a category ban.

In February 2025, the Department of Defense adopted a policy under Secretary Pete Hegseth barring most transgender Americans from enlisting and requiring currently serving transgender troops to face discharge. On June 1, 2026, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that discharging currently serving transgender troops was unconstitutional, finding the policy was driven by animus rather than any documented readiness concern. The ruling blocked discharges of currently serving troops but left the ban on new enlistment in place. Secretary Hegseth has said he will appeal to the Supreme Court. On June 30, 2026, the case, Talbott v. USA, was certified as a class action covering all current and future transgender service members, not just the original plaintiffs.

Right now, whether a transgender American can serve in the military depends on which court is ruling and which administration is in office. A service member who has trained for years and deployed honorably can be discharged over a policy unrelated to their job performance. A recruit who meets every physical and medical standard required of any other applicant can be turned away because of their gender identity alone.

As Senator, Lydia will:

• Cosponsor and push to pass legislation writing military service eligibility into law, so no person can be excluded from enlistment or retention because of gender identity
• Apply the same individualized fitness-for-duty standard used for any other ongoing medical condition, including hormone therapy or gender-affirming care, to transgender service members
• Oppose any policy that excludes a category of people from service by executive order rather than by law passed through Congress