Military boards are defying orders by voting to retain transgender troops in the US Navy and Marine Corps.
What happened
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a policy banning transgender service members, stating that those with gender dysphoria or related treatments would be discharged. However, the boards created to process these cases have been voting to retain the members in most instances.
According to a report, the boards have voted to retain the member in nine out of 12 proceedings, despite being instructed to dismiss any service member with evidence of transgender status. The boards, staffed by uniformed personnel, have been quietly defying orders by choosing to keep these troops in uniform.
A military correspondent described the process, stating that the boards are set up to apply the rules and discharge transgender service members, but they are instead voting to keep them in the military. The correspondent noted that the boards are looking at the rules and realizing they have no choice, but are still choosing to retain the troops.
One retained Marine, Staff Sgt. Damien Contreras, stated that the board members were simply war fighters looking at war fighters and saw that he had always done his job and followed the rules. The administration has limited the boards' independence, allowing commanders to override a board's recommendation to retain a transgender member.
