Air Force Denies Early Retirement for Transgender Men and Women
The airmen, all of whom have served 15 to 18 years, must now choose between a voluntary separation agreement or involuntary removal with few, if any, benefits. Either course of action will result in a substantial loss of financial, medical and other benefits worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to each of them.
The Air Force's decision on Wednesday to rescind its approval of early retirements for transgender men and woman, which was reported earlier by Reuters, is the latest battle in President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's assault on transgender rights.
One of the affected airmen is Master Sgt. Logan Ireland, who is stationed in Oahu, Hawaii, and is represented by Shannon Minter, a lawyer and the legal director of the National Center for L.G.B.T.Q. Rights.
'It's just mind-boggling,' Mr. Minter said in an interview. 'Master Sergeant Ireland deployed to combat multiple times and is a superstar who re-enlisted earlier this year.'
During the Biden administration, Mr. Minter said, active duty service members were allowed to transition. 'They followed policy. They never did anything wrong,' Mr. Minter said.
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