Transgender troops began serving openly in 2016 under President Barack Obama. In his first term, President Donald Trump announced a ban by tweet and the Defense Department later barred transgender enlistment while initially retaining service members already in uniform. President Joe Biden restored the ability for transgender recruits to join. The Trump administration later expelled transgender soldiers and escalated actions by cutting pensions and benefits. The Air Force rescinded early-retirement approvals for more than a dozen transgender service members with 14–18 years' service, replacing normal retirement benefits with lump-sum payments hundreds of thousands of dollars smaller and offering no explanation.
Earlier this year, when President Donald Trump issued an executive order that expelled transgender troops from the U.S. military, the administration claimed-against all evidence-that bigotry against trans people was not the reason behind the move. There's no longer any plausible deniability, though, as Trump's Defense Department recently escalated its war on trans service members by taking away some of those soldiers' pensions and benefits.
Air Force Master Sgt. Logan Ireland has served for 15 years, including overseas tours to Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, and South Korea. After the Supreme Court decided to allow the Trump administration to enforce its ban, Ireland agreed to apply for early retirement; he was told that if he didn't, he would lose half of his separation pay. His application was approved.
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