U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The U.S. Air Force on Aug. 7 said transgender service members who have served between 15 and 18 years would be denied the opportunity to retire early and instead will be separated from the military without benefits.
Trans troops will now have the option of accepting a lump sum payout offered to junior service members or be removed from the service.
A spokesperson for the Air Force told the Associated Press that “although service members with 15 to 18 years of honorable service were permitted to apply for an exception to policy, none of the exceptions to policy were approved.”
Some trans airmen, about a dozen, were “prematurely notified” that they were able to retire early before the decision was reversed, the spokesperson said.
Responding to the news, Human Rights Campaign Chief of Staff Jay Brown said, “This is indefensible. After already denying transgender servicemembers the ability to serve their country, the Trump administration is now stripping them of the retirement benefits they’ve earned after years of honorable service.”
Brown continued, “This has nothing to do with military readiness — it’s cruelty for cruelty’s sake.”
HRC and Lambda Legal are representing plaintiffs in a lawsuit, Shilling v. United States, challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s ban on military service by trans people.
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com.
