Transgenders

New Pentagon policy undercuts trans troops' ability to ask to stay in army

The Pentagon has rolled out a new policy that will severely undercut the ability for transgender troops who have been banned from the armed forces by the Trump administration to turn to boards of their peers to argue for their right to stay in the military, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. If military separation boards decide to allow transgender service members to remain in uniform, commanders can override that decision, according to an Oct 8 memo to all the services from the Pentagon's undersecretary for personnel and readiness, Anthony Tata. That breaks with longstanding policy that boards act independently. It is the Pentagon's latest step to drive transgender troops out of the armed forces following an executive order from President Donald Trump. He and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have targeted diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in what they say is an effort to make the military more lethal. The adminstration's policies have faced pushback in the .

King Charles III dedicates Britain's 1st national memorial to LGBTQ+ troops

King Charles III on Monday dedicated Britain's first national memorial to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender troops, 25 years after the UK ended a ban on homosexuality in the armed forces. The king, who is the ceremonial head of the armed forces, laid flowers at the monument in the National Memorial Arboretum in central England at a service attended by scores of serving troops and veterans. The sculpture takes the form of a crumpled bronze letter bearing words from personnel who were affected by the ban. Between 1967 and 2000, soldiers, sailors and air force personnel who were or were thought to be gay or transgender were labelled unfit to serve and dismissed or discharged from the forces. Some were stripped of medals or lost their pension rights, and many struggled with the stigma for decades. The government lifted the ban after a 1999 ruling from the European Court of Human Rights. In 2023 then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak formally apologised for what he called an appalling .

JK Rowling calls Emma Watson 'ignorant' as trans-rights row escalates

JK Rowling has issued a rebuttal to Emma Watson after the Harry Potter actress recently discussed their relationship and their public dispute over gender identity

New US Air Force policy denies transgender troops discharge hearings

The Air Force says in a new memo that transgender airmen ousted under a recent Trump administration directive will no longer have the chance to argue before a board of their peers for the right to continue serving their country. The memo dated Tuesday says military separation boards cannot independently decide whether to keep or discharge transgender airmen and instead must recommend separation of the member if the airman has a diagnosis of gender dysphoria when a person's biological sex does not match up with their gender identity. Military legal experts who have been advising transgender troops told The Associated Press that the new policy is unlawful, and while they were not aware of the other services releasing similar memos, they fear it could serve as a blueprint across the military. Advocacy groups say the change threatens to weaken trust in the military's leadership. It is the second policy change the Air Force has taken in recent weeks to crack down on transgender service

Bihar govt sets up board to protect transgender community's rights

The Bihar government has constituted a welfare board to protect the rights of the transgender community and take measures for their social development and empowerment, an official said on Friday. A notification for the constitution of the 'Bihar Rajya Kinnar Kalyan Board' was issued by the Social Welfare Department, she said. Bihar Social Welfare Minister Madan Sahni has been made the chairman of the 28-member panel, the official said. The department has constituted the 'Bihar Rajya Kinnar Kalyan Board' to protect the rights of the transgender community and take measures for their social development and empowerment. The board has seven members belonging to the transgender community," Social Welfare Department Secretary Bandana Preyashi told PTI. The measures for the social development of the transgender community will be implemented and monitored by the board, she said. The state government also wants to provide them education and vocational training to prepare them for respectabl

Delhi govt notifies new rules to protect rights of transgender persons

The Delhi government has notified rules for the protection of transgenders' rights, paving the way for the issuance of identity cards to them and forming a welfare board to ensure their well-being, officials said on Wednesday. A recent notification issued by the Social Welfare Department of the government said that in exercise of powers conferred on him, Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has made the Delhi Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2025. The district magistrates (DMs) concerned will issue a certificate of identity for a transgender person within 30 days of receipt of a duly filled-in application, said the notification. A Transgender Welfare Empowerment Board is to be constituted by the Delhi government. It will consist of the social welfare minister as its ex officio chairman, it said. The Board will also have as its members a representative each from the home, finance, planning, law, labour, health, higher education, education and revenue departments, among othe

Trump administration sues California over transgender athlete policies

President Donald Trump's administration sued the California Department of Education on Wednesday for allowing transgender girls to compete on girls sports teams, alleging the policy violates federal law. The move escalates a battle between the Republican administration in Washington and Democratic-led California over trans athletes. The lawsuit filed by the Justice Department says California's transgender athlete policies violate Title IX, the federal law that bans discrimination in education based on sex. The department says California's rules are not only illegal and unfair but also demeaning, signalling to girls that their opportunities and achievements are secondary to accommodating boys. US Attorney General Pam Bondi warned other states that allow trans girls to compete in female athletics that they could also face challenges by the federal government. If you do not comply, you're next, she said in a video posted on social media. We will protect girls in girls sports. The st

Transgender teens fight back Trump's ban on participation in girls' sports

Parker Tirrell, 16, enjoys her art classes, scrolling on TikTok and working at her new job at a pet store. But most of all, the transgender teen loves playing soccer. Until last year, that wasn't a problem. I was just living my life like any normal person, said Tirrell, who has played since she was 4. I was accepted. I had a nice, steady team that I played on all the time. Then came a cascade of obstacles, starting with a state ban on transgender girls in girls' sports, and most recently President Donald Trump's Feb. 5 executive order, Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports." Now, life is anything but normal. Tirrell, along with Iris Turmelle, 15, another transgender girl, are the first to challenge Trump's order, six months after suing their own state over its ban and getting a court order allowing them to play. I just feel like I'm being singled out right now by lawmakers and Trump and just the whole legislative system for something that I can't control, Tirrell told The Associated P

Transgender Americans aim to block Donald Trump's passport policy change

When Ash Lazarus Orr went to renew his passport in early January, the transgender organiser figured it would be relatively routine. But more than two months on, Orr is waiting to get a new passport with a name change and a sex designation reflecting who he is. The delay has prevented him from travelling overseas to receive gender-affirming care this month in Ireland since he refuses to get a passport that lists an inaccurate sex designation. Orr blames the delay on President Donald Trump, who on the day he took office issued an executive order banning the use of the X marker as well as the changing of gender markers. The order says a person is male or female and it rejects the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned at birth to another gender. This is preventing me from having an accurate identification and the freedom to move about the country as well as internationally, said Orr, who is among seven plaintiffs five transgender Americans and two nonbinary plaintiffs

Judge temporarily halts Trump's removal of transgender service members

A federal judge in New Jersey has issued a temporary ban on the removal of two transgender men from the Air Force, following a similar ruling last week from a judge in Washington. US district judge Christine O'Hearn after a hearing on Monday said the pair have shown their separation would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations. She issued a two-week ban on the enforcement of President Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender people from military service. O'Hearn found that Master Sgt Logan Ireland and Staff Sgt Nicholas Bear Bade are likely to prevail on equal protection grounds by showing they have been singled out due to their sex and the defendants cannot justify the differential treatment. "The loss of military service under the stigma of a policy that targets gender identity is not merely a loss of employment; it is a profound disruption of personal dignity, medical continuity, and public service," O'Hearn wrote in an order granting a 14-day restrainin

Transgender ban: US Army halts recruitment, ends gender-affirming care

The decision reverses the policies established under the Biden administration, which had allowed transgender individuals to serve in the military and access medical care

Second judge pauses Trump's order against gender-affirming care for youth

A second federal judge on Friday paused President Donald Trump's executive order halting federal support for gender-affirming care for transgender youth under 19. US District Court Judge Lauren King granted a temporary restraining order after the Democratic attorneys general of Washington state, Oregon and Minnesota sued the Trump administration last week. Three doctors joined as plaintiffs in the suit, which was filed in the Western District of Washington. The decision came one day after a federal judge in Baltimore temporarily blocked the executive order in response to a separate lawsuit filed on behalf of families with transgender or nonbinary children. Judge Brendan Hurson's temporary restraining order will last 14 days but could be extended, and essentially puts Trump's directive on hold while the case proceeds. Hurston and King were both appointed by former President Joe Biden. Trump signed an executive order last month halting federal funding for institutions that provide th

Trump makes passport applications more complex for transgender Americans

The day after President Donald Trump returned to office, Lisa Suhay took her 21-year-old daughter, Mellow, to a passport office in Norfolk, Virginia, where they live. Getting a passport for Mellow, who is transgender, was urgent. In an executive order Trump signed the night before, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead of a broader conception of gender. The order says a person is male or female and it rejects the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned at birth to another gender. The framing is in line with many conservatives' views but at odds with major medical groups and policies under former President Joe Biden. Her family wants Mellow to be able to leave the country if things became unbearable for transgender people in the US as the federal government increasingly moves not to recognise them. If the worst was to come to worst and things were to threaten my life, she said, I would have some way out. Trump's Jan. 20 order, which questions th

Explained: Trump’s controversial ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports

US President Donald Trump has signed a sweeping executive order banning transgender women from competing in female sports.

Trump to sign executive order, ban trans female athletes from competing

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Wednesday designed to prevent people who were biologically assigned male at birth from participating in women's or girls' sporting events. The order, which Trump is expected to sign at an afternoon ceremony, marks another aggressive shift by the president's second administration in the way the federal government deals with transgender people and their rights. The president put out a sweeping order on his first day in office last month that called for the federal government to define sex as only male or female and for that to be reflected on official documents such as passports and in policies such as federal prison assignments. Trump found during the campaign that his pledge to keep men out of women's sports resonated beyond the usual party lines. More than half the voters surveyed by AP VoteCast said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far. He leaned into the rhetoric before the election, ...

Trump ends teen gender transition funding; Musk has reason to cheer

US president has signed an order cutting federal funding for teen gender transitions, with Elon Musk's support adding to the controversy

Judge junks Biden's Title IX rules, upturns protections for LGBTQ+ students

The Biden administration's Title IX rules expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students have been struck down nationwide after a federal judge in Kentucky found they overstepped the president's authority. In a decision issued Thursday, US District Judge Danny C. Reeves scrapped the entire 1,500-page regulation after deciding it was fatally tainted by legal shortcomings. The rule had already been halted in 26 states after a wave of legal challenges by Republican states. President-elect Donald Trump previously promised to end the rules on day one and made anti-transgender themes a centrepiece of his campaign. The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called it a rejection of the Biden administration's relentless push to impose a radical gender ideology. Because the Biden rule is vacated altogether, President Trump will be free to take a fresh look at our Title IX ...

Biden signs defence bill despite objections to ban transgender health care

President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law a defence bill that authorises significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to USD 895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families. Biden said his administration strongly opposes the provision because it targets a group based on gender identity and "interferes with parents' roles to determine the best care for their children. He said it also undermines the all-volunteer military's ability to recruit and retain talent. No service member should have to decide between their family's health care access and their call to serve our nation, the president said in a statement. The Senate forwarded the bill to Biden after passing it last week by a vote of 85-14. In the House, a majority of Democrats voted against the bill after House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted on adding t

Grant 0.5% interim reservation to transgenders, Karnataka HC tells NLSIU

The Karnataka High Court has directed the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) to provide 0.5 per cent interim quota to the transgenders in admissions and fees waiver till the varsity formulates a policy on reservation for such applicants. The bench headed by Justice Ravi V Hosmani also asked NLSIU to approach the Centre and the state government for appropriate grants to cover the financial aid. The court took note of the one per cent reservation provided for transgenders in employment by state government to prescribe 0.5 per cent quota for the community. The court direction was based on a petition filed by Mugil Anbu Vasantha.

Medical curriculum revision criticised for excluding transgender rights

Disability rights activists and transgender advocates have raised alarms over the non-inclusion of provisions outlined in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPDA), 2016 and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act (TPA), 2019 in the National Medical Commission's revised Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) Curriculum. In a letter addressed to Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr Virendra Kumar, the leaders of disability and transgender communities expressed their dismay. The letter penned by Central Advisory Board on Disability Chairperson Dr Satendra Singh and Association for Transgender Health in India CEO Air Commodore (Retd.) Dr Sanjay Sharma highlighted how the new curriculum, released on August 31, 2024, fails to address critical issues impacting these marginalized groups. "The curriculum has been deemed outdated and archaic, contradicting the Supreme Court judgements and previous guidelines," stated the letter. The controversy led to