By Abiola Olawale
United States President Donald Trump on Monday has finally signed and released an executive order aimed at removing what he terms “transgender ideology” from the US military.
The US Presudent said the signing was part of a series of actions taken on his first day in office for his second term in office, focusing on reversing previous policies related to transgender military service members.
The order specifically mandates that the military should recognize only two immutable biological sexes: male and female, effectively blocking protections and recognition for transgender individuals in the military.
In a series of orders related to the military that Trump told reporters he had signed on Air Force One, he also called for the building of a US version of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system.
“To ensure that we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transgender ideology the hell out of our military,” Trump told a Republican congressional retreat in Miami.
In his order, Trump claimed the armed forces “have been afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists” and that “many mental and physical health conditions are incompatible with active duty.”
The order reads in part: “Adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honourable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”
“A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honour this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”
