On August 8, GLAAD, the world’s leading LGBTQ media advocacy organization, amplified the voices of several transgender service members in response to news that the U.S. Air Force issued a memo denying early retirement to all transgender service members with between 15 and 18 years of military service. These trans service members are being given the option to either quit or be forced out with no retirement benefits. Multiple transgender troops had previously been told they had been approved for early retirement.
Air Force Major Emma Webb, who has served for ten years, shared the devastating impact the news will have on many service members:
“Transgender troops who are affected by this policy have served most of their career in the closet. Then they were told it was safe to be themselves and would be allowed to serve openly. Now the Air Force is kicking them out ONLY because they followed the Department of the Air Force (DAF) policies for in-service transition. In other words, they followed the rules and got kicked out for it. This move is not all that surprising. Some may recall that the Department of Defense claimed that you can get a waiver to their anti-transgender policy, but then wrote the waiver in such a way that NO transgender person who served openly could ever get one. This latest move by the DAF should serve as a clear warning to other marginalized groups that this administration does not care about you. The old motto of, ‘Mission first, people always’ is dead. The removal of transgender troops is driven by animus, and the DAF just proved that it is now a ‘King Trump first, people last’ Air Force.”
Master Sergeant Logan Ireland of the U.S. Air Force, who has 15 years of experience, including a deployment to Afghanistan, said:
“This is betrayal. I have served my country honorably. I’ve earned multiple awards for leadership and excellence, deployed to combat zones, led operations across the globe, and worn this uniform with pride. My service has been nothing short of meritorious. I didn’t just check boxes; I exceeded the standard, time and again, in defense of this nation. Without warning, I am being forcibly removed—not for misconduct, not for failure, but because I am transgender.”
Sgt. Aubreigh Hedrich of the U.S. Space Force (USSF) said:
“I am tired. WE are all so tired. We have all sacrificed so much of our lives and missed out on so much family time. Those of us that this applies to have already volunteered to leave peacefully, and we’re still being targeted and harassed on the way out.”
A GLAAD spokesperson added additional context:
“The termination of transgender service members and the denial of benefits guaranteed through retirement after decades of military service is not only cruel, but discriminatory and un-American. Transgender service members are now being forced to endure additional dehumanizing attacks on their professional service and personhood as a result of the Trump administration’s discriminatory policies. Transgender service members have served our country honorably, often risking their lives in combat zones abroad, while those in political leadership have manufactured blatant falsehoods to ban troops who meet the military’s standards to serve. History is being recorded and will reflect another failure of American leadership to treat transgender Americans, including those who selflessly serve our country, with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
According to the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the policy change will cost transgender service members hundreds of thousands of dollars over their lifetimes in denied benefits.
According to the Williams Institute of UCLA, transgender Americans are about twice as likely as all adults in the U.S. to have served their country in the armed forces.
The move is the latest blow to transgender soldiers as the Trump administration seeks to bar them entirely from serving in the military.
In May, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to enforce a ban on allowing transgender people to serve in the military, overturning two lower court decisions. including an opinion issued in March 2025 in which U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes stated that “thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed—some risking their lives—to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them.” Judge Reyes held that banning transgender service members from the military violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution because it is discrimination based on transgender status and sex, and because “it is soaked in animus.”Judge Reyes continued: “Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact.”
Research shows that Trump’s previous ban on transgender service had a negative impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, and national security. Fifty-six generals, admirals, and other leaders from every service branch condemned Trump’s previous efforts to bar open service, noting it would “degrade readiness even more than the failed ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy.”
GLAAD will continue to amplify the voices of those affected by the Trump administration’s discriminatory policies.
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