Trump Is Stripping Some Service Members Of Their Retirement Benefits In An "Unprecedented" Move

"The 38-year-old transgender Air Force member had already jumped through bureaucratic hoops to be able to serve during Trump's first term. In 2017, Trump tweeted he wanted to ban trans people from the military; the White House formalized its policy over the next year, carving out exceptions for people like Ireland who had already begun medically transitioning. Ireland had to get a doctor's note diagnosing him with gender dysphoria in order to keep his job."

"Days after returning to office, Trump signed an executive order in which he called transgender identity a "falsehood" and claimed a diagnosis of gender dysphoria was incompatible with the military's standards of "lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity." In May, the Supreme Court gave Trump the green light to enforce his ban on transgender service members as a lawsuit brought by trans plaintiffs continued in a lower court."

"And now, that diagnosis is being used to purge him - and thousands of other transgender service members - from the military, despite his 15 years of service, including deployments in Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, and South Korea. Ireland is now one of 17 transgender Air Force and Space Force members suing the United States government over what they say is an "unlawful" revocation of their early retirement benefits and pensions."

President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling transgender identity a "falsehood" and asserting a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is incompatible with military standards of "lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity." The Supreme Court permitted enforcement of the ban while litigation continued in lower courts. Active-duty troops were given until July 7 to self-identify a gender dysphoria diagnosis and begin a voluntary separation process offering double separation pay and exemption from bonus or tuition repayment. Thousands of transgender service members face discharge and loss of retirement benefits despite lengthy service and overseas deployments. Seventeen Air Force and Space Force members are suing over revocation of early retirement benefits and pensions.

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