Carla Lewis enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1990. But the next year, after a background check for a top-secret position revealed that she had seen a counselor for gender identity issues, she was honorably discharged for what her military papers described as “Conditions That Interfere With Military Service — Not Disability — Mental Disorders.”
That’s why she and her active-duty transgender friends had been “elated” by the Obama administration’s decision in 2016 to allow transgender service members to serve openly, she said.
But a surprise announcement by President Trump on Twitter on Wednesday banning transgender Americans from serving “in any capacity in the U.S. military” has angered and bewildered transgender soldiers and veterans, with some active service members now wondering if they’ve put themselves at risk by outing themselves as transgender when the Obama administration allowed them to do so.
“Some of them are even approaching retirement, and now that they’ve come out, they’re [screwed],” said Lewis, 46, who is now an activist for transgender rights. “All over the world, there are units in the place that depend on a transgender member of that team.… I have one friend who told me today that ‘people believe we can’t do our jobs, and right now this is disrupting our ability to do our jobs.’ ”
Transgender people have already served in the military in large numbers, though in the past it was mostly in secret, with gender transitions — often with the use of hormones and sometimes surgeries — usually coming after the end of service. (All the veterans quoted in this story transitioned after leaving the military and are identified by their current names.)