Minnesota National Guard members receive email instructing those with gender dysphoria to voluntarily separate
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Members of Minnesota’s National Guard received an email Thursday explaining how to initiate voluntary separation from the army if they have a “current diagnosis, history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria.”
The email refers to President Donald Trump’s executive order that said gender dysphoria is inconsistent with “the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”
“Beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life,” the Jan. 27 executive order states.
At least one other state’s National Guard unit received a similar email, MPR News has learned.
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The email to National Guard members lays out a timeline for service members who experience gender dysphoria to voluntarily separate from the military.
“Characterization of Service will be ‘Honorable’ unless the Soldier’s service record otherwise warrants a lower characterization,” the email said.
On Feb. 7, the Secretary of Defense published guidance about a Trump executive order on military readiness. Capt. Andrea E. Tsuchiya, a Minnesota National Guard state public affairs officer, said the guard is required to comply with presidential orders and directives.
“On [Monday], Minnesota Air National Guard members received a no reply email directly from an Air Force digital human resource platform informing them they had until March 26th to voluntarily separate if they were experiencing gender dysphoria,” Tsuchiya wrote in an email. “The Minnesota National Guard was not made aware that this email would be sent directly to Airmen.”
The email said service members who have gender dysphoria who don’t receive a waiver will be processed for administrative separation in accordance with existing Army policy.
Gender dysphoria is the distress that a person feels because their assigned gender and gender identity don’t match. The medical condition has been linked to depression and suicidal thoughts.
The Pentagon has said in recent years that it is impossible to count the total number of transgender troops. The military services said that information is limited due to medical privacy laws.
Tsuchiya said the Minnesota National Guard Human Resources Office will be monitoring legal challenges to the policies and will update service members if a court order changes this guidance.
A federal judge said Wednesday she hopes to rule next week on whether to block the Trump administration from banning transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said Wednesday it is her “strong hope” that she will issue a decision next Tuesday or Wednesday. Reyes acknowledged that her ruling probably won't be the “last stop in this train's journey,” given the near-certainty of an appeal.
“I just have to do the best I can with the evidence in front of me," she said.
Reyes spent a daylong hearing in Washington, D.C. peppering a government attorney with questions about a Defense Department policy that presumptively disqualifies people with gender dysphoria from military service.
Reyes frequently sounded skeptical of the administration's motives and rationale as she challenged Justice Department attorney Jason Manion to defend the order and policy. She called it a “Don't Tell” policy, a reference to the military's outdated “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy against LGBTQ service members.
“They have to essentially be in hiding while in service,” Reyes said of transgender troops.
The judge said the Defense Department has spent roughly $5.2 million annually over the past decade to provide medical care to treat gender dysphoria — a miniscule percentage of the military's multi-billion dollar budget. As a point of comparison, Reyes noted that the military spends around $42 million per year on medication treating erectile dysfunction.
“It’s not even a rounding error, right?” she asked.
“If it’s a cost per service member, it does matter,” Manion said.
The plaintiffs who sued to block Trump’s order include an Army Reserves platoon leader from Pennsylvania, an Army major who was awarded a Bronze Star for service in Afghanistan and a Sailor of the Year award winner serving in the Navy. Their attorneys contend that Trump’s order violates transgender people’s rights to equal protection under the Fifth Amendment.
Government lawyers argue that military officials have broad discretion to decide how to assign and deploy servicemembers without judicial interference.