North Carolina State Representative Gregory F. Murphy said that the military’s primary purpose is defense, not social justice programs, and emphasized that the focus on “protests and pronouns” should cease. Murphy made this statement in a January 27 post on X.
“Our military is to fight and defend,” said F. Murphy. “Not protests and pronouns. Enough of the social justice programs. The era of ridiculousness is over.”
According to a report from Fox News, President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order directing the Department of Defense to update medical standards with an emphasis on “readiness and lethality.” The order aims to eliminate “invented and identification-based pronouns,” restrict access to sleeping, changing, and bathing facilities based on biological sex, and revoke a previous executive order from President Joe Biden that allowed gender identity-based accommodations in the military. This follows a prior directive from Trump ending a Biden-era policy permitting transgender individuals to serve.
The order is part of broader efforts by Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion policies from the military. Republican lawmakers have included provisions in the 2025 defense policy bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors within the military healthcare system. Between 2016 and 2021, the Department of Defense reportedly spent $15 million on gender-affirming care for nearly 1,900 active-duty service members. Additionally, a separate executive order has mandated the closure of all DEI offices across the federal government and restricted taxpayer funding for transgender services.
In 2021, President Joseph R. Biden issued an executive order reversing a prior ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. The directive applied to both the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security concerning the U.S. Coast Guard.
Murphy is currently serving his third term as representative for North Carolina’s Third Congressional District. He is a member of several committees including the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Additionally, he co-chairs the House GOP Doctors Caucus. Murphy holds degrees from Davidson College and the University of North Carolina’s School of Medicine and is noted as the only practicing surgeon in Congress.
