"It was the privilege of a lifetime to be able to serve in the National Guard for 13 years and do the things that I got to do there, meet the people that I met, but really, it was about service to others, which I think is an important thing for all of us to keep in mind and something we should dedicate a little bit of our time to every day."
"She joined the National Guard because she "truly wanted to give back to the United States and to my community" and said she "always wanted to serve" as she had a family history with the military."
"It's important to fight for what's right"
LeAnne Withrow is a trans woman employed by the State Family Programs Office of the Illinois National Guard and a former soldier who served from 2010 to 2023. Withrow received multiple decorations including the Meritorious Service Medal and Illinois National Guard Abraham Lincoln Medal of Freedom. She joined the Guard to serve her country and community and came out as trans in 2016 when military policy allowed transgender service. She says she never had issues using female facilities until a Trump-era executive order changed bathroom policy. She is now suing the Trump administration, saying the policy forces her to avoid eating and drinking at work to skip using facilities.
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