I’m a Veteran. Trump’s Trans Military Ban Betrays Our Troops

I have served my country. For two decades, I wore the uniform of an American soldier, deployed to Afghanistan three times, and led troops in combat. I didn’t do it for politics, I did it because I believed in the values the military claims to uphold: service, integrity, and leadership. I was also the first openly transgender infantry noncommissioned officer. That distinction didn’t inherently make me a better Staff Sergeant, but neither did it make me any less capable. 

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I trained and fought for my country. And I did it all while political pundits, selling themselves as experts in military readiness without ever proving themselves under fire, sat in television studios while promoting a ban on transgender military service members.

Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring transgender people from enlisting and serving openly in the military. Being trans, Trump writes, “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle.”

Trump, who received five deferments exempting himself from military service (including a medical deferment for heel spurs) goes on to state that being trans “is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”

Many transgender troops have served for years, led units in combat, carried out complex missions, and proven themselves under extreme pressure. The loudest voices against us are often those who have not served alongside us. They don’t see the daily discipline, sacrifices, and absolute commitment to the mission that transgender service members demonstrate every single day.

The truth is, those calling for a trans military ban hide behind rhetoric about “standards” without understanding that every transgender person currently serving has met them. The military doesn’t lower the bar for anyone—certainly not for us. If anything, we’ve had to clear it while dragging extra weight. Every trans service member has had to prove themselves twice: first to meet the standards of their chosen branch, and again just to justify their continued existence within it. We have done so, over and over again, while others question whether we belong.

The betrayal of transgender service members

Trump’s executive order, which he signed on January 27, 2025 doesn’t just reinstate his previous trans military ban—it goes further. It asserts that transgender service members “undermine unit cohesion” and lack “honesty, humility, and integrity.” These insults are especially disrespectful towards the transgender Americans who have raised their right hand and sworn to serve this country and who have done so with the highest levels of professionalism.

Transgender service members (such as myself) have commanded units, trained recruits, and carried out missions under fire. Many have served through multiple deployments, all while hearing slurs and lies about who they are from their own elected leaders.

The transgender soldiers I’ve worked with—and the airmen, sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and even Guardians—have demonstrated courage in the face of difficulty, grace in the face of insult, and integrity in living who they truly are every day. They are professionals, they are leaders, and they are damn good at their jobs.

A purge disguised as policy

The 2017 ban didn’t result in immediate discharges; it simply made service so untenable that transgender troops were forced out over time. This new policy is even more aggressive. It blocks enlistments, restricts access to medically necessary care, and limits reenlistment opportunities. This isn’t about ensuring readiness; it’s about making life unbearable for those already serving.

Let’s be clear: this is an attrition strategy. President Trump knows that if he can’t legally discharge transgender troops outright, he can create enough barriers to force them out. Indeed, it appears that Trump’s overarching strategy is to erase transgender people.

This executive order isn’t just about military service—it’s part of a much broader effort to push transgender people out of public life entirely. It’s connected to bans on gender-affirming care, restrictions on legal recognition, and attempts to erase trans people from schools, healthcare, and government protections. The military is just one front in a larger war against transgender existence.

We’ve seen this before. The same politicians pushing this ban are the ones backing anti-trans laws in state legislatures, trying to control how we access medical care, where we can exist, and even what words we can use to describe ourselves. This is about power, not policy. It’s an attempt to force transgender people out of spaces where they have already proven they belong.

The reality of transgender military members

Trump framed his ban on trans military members as a matter of “readiness.” However, the RAND Corporation has already debunked the myth that transgender service members harm readiness. Their research, commissioned by the Pentagon itself, found that allowing transgender individuals to serve had no negative impact on unit cohesion or operational effectiveness.

Financially, the argument against transgender service members falls apart. The cost of gender-affirming care represents a tiny fraction of the military’s overall healthcare budget—far less than what is spent annually on other common treatments like erectile dysfunction medications. Gender-affirming care is healthcare, and it helps ensure that all troops, regardless of gender identity, are able to perform at their best.

Blocking this care hurts retention and readiness. Transgender troops who are denied healthcare won’t just leave the military—they’ll leave with service-connected medical conditions that the Department of Veterans Affairs will still have to treat. It’s a short-sighted policy that creates long-term financial and strategic consequences.

When I scheduled my first transgender-related surgery, I planned it around my unit’s operations. I was in 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment. I scheduled my surgery the Friday after Thanksgiving, knowing that our unit was on holiday leave during Christmas and our training calendar was clear. I recovered during the lowest operational tempo of the year, and by the time my unit resumed training in February, I was back at full capacity.

This is how transgender service members operate. We don’t put ourselves above the mission. We can schedule our care responsibly, return to duty as soon as possible, and continue to meet the same physical, mental, and leadership standards expected of any service member. Trump’s assertion that we lack integrity is not just offensive—it’s demonstrably false.

Trump’s trans military ban is bigger than the military. It’s about whether we, as a country, believe that America is a place where anyone willing to sacrifice for it can belong.

To every service member reading this: Keep doing your job. Show up, lead, and prove others wrong, just like we’ve always done. And to everyone else: Pay attention. The fight over this ban is about more than just military policy—it’s about whether trans people have the right to exist in public life.

Transgender service members don’t just serve, we lead. We are as capable, as effective, and as lethal as anyone else. And we aren’t going anywhere.

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