The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is pushing transgender personnel in the Air Force and Space Force to voluntarily exit by the month’s end, citing incompatibility with the required mental and physical standards for military service. Details of the directive, issued as a memorandum by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Gwendolyn R. DeFilippi, were publicly revealed in a legal filing in a federal court. President Donald J. Trump’s administration is currently being sued by several far-left litigation groups, including GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

“Service members eligible for voluntary separation pay will be paid at a rate that is twice the amount for which the service member would have been eligible under involuntary separation pay,” the DoD memo states, emphasizing transgender individuals are required to adhere to regulations consistent with their biological sex immediately. However, Jennifer Levi, an attorney with GLAD Law, argued on Monday that the directive is clear evidence of an ideological purge being enacted on the U.S. military.

“The Air Force memo is consistent with this purge of highly accomplished, dedicated transgender service members,” Levi said, adding: “It is shameful. The memo also demonstrates the chaos and havoc being wreaked by this administration in ways that undermine our national security.”

Despite the purge allegations, the DoD memo notes that hormone treatments will continue to be accessible for military personnel who were diagnosed prior to a notice issued by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week indicating he would soon move to enforce President Trump’s executive order barring federal funds from being used to pay for sex reassignment procedures and hormone treatments. Access to the treatments will end once the individual’s separation from the military is finalized.

Image via Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office.