US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Donald Trump appointee, sparked widespread outrage after misgendering transgender women in a public address earlier this month, referring to them as “dudes in dresses” while condemning what he labelled “wokeness” in the military.
Delivering a keynote speech at Special Operations Forces Week on 6 May, Hegseth declared a dramatic shift in US military culture under the Trump administration.
“Everything starts and ends with warriors, from training to the battlefield,” Hegseth said.
“We are leaving wokeness and weakness behind. No more pronouns. No more climate change obsession. No more emergency vaccine mandates. No more dudes in dresses — we’re done with that shit.”
His comments came on the same day the US Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to begin enforcing its ban on transgender people serving in the military, even though multiple legal challenges against the policy are still ongoing.
Mixed Messaging on Gender and Combat Roles
While Hegseth claimed the military would now become “gender neutral” in terms of combat expectations, his previous remarks appear to contradict this stance.
“Our standards will be high and in combat formations they will be gender neutral,” he said during the speech.
“Because the weight of a 155 round or a rucksack or a human being doesn’t care if you’re a man or a woman.”
However, in November last year, Hegseth publicly stated that he believes women should not serve in combat roles.
Estimates suggest that between 8,000 and 15,000 transgender individuals currently serve or have served in the US military, making the Supreme Court decision — and Hegseth’s rhetoric — deeply personal and impactful to many.
Praise from Right-Wing Figures
Hegseth’s remarks were lauded by former White House Press Secretary and conservative commentator Sean Spicer, who tweeted three days later:
“Thanks to Pete Hegseth and the Supreme Court, our military can now focus on defending our country and ban transgender military service members.”
LGBTQ+ rights organisations have condemned the Defence Secretary’s speech as dangerous, discriminatory, and dehumanising, warning that such rhetoric legitimises transphobia within one of the country’s most powerful institutions.
