Transgender military members heartbroken, fighting to serve despite Trump ban

CBS News

2 days ago

Thousands of transgender U.S. military members have until Friday, June 6, to identify themselves and begin a voluntary separation from the armed forces under a ban implemented by the Trump administration.
WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren spoke to three decorated service members about the uncertain future ahead.
Thousands of transgender U.S. military members have until Friday, June 6, to identify themselves and begin a voluntary separation from the armed forces under a ban implemented by the Trump administration.
CBS News Baltimore
Transgender military members share heartbreak
Colonel Bree Fram joined the military after 9/11 and was determined to give back.
She never thought her distinguished career of more than two decades in the Air Force – and now the Space Force – would end with an executive order from the president to purge the military of its transgender members.
"I'm absolutely heartbroken because we have given everything of ourselves," Col. Fram said. "We have met every standard, every demand the military in this country has asked of us. We have risen to the challenge and in most cases exceeded that. You can look at our performance reports and see that, year after year, meets or exceeds standards despite what we're being told by this administration that we somehow don't. The evidence is not there to support any of the claims that are being made about who we are, and that hurts."
Fram said many of her colleagues have expressed their support.
"For me, every day walking through the hallways of the Pentagon, wearing my uniform, is such a gift, and I have people who walk up to me and say, 'You don't know me, but I know you! I support you,'" Fram said.
Thousands of transgender U.S. military members have until Friday, June 6, to identify themselves and begin a voluntary separation from the armed forces under a ban implemented by the Trump administration.
Courtesy of Col. Bree Fram
Uncertainty after Trump's ban on transgender troops
Fram's friend and colleague, Navy Chief Petty Officer Ryan Goodell, already made the difficult decision to voluntarily separate from the military.
For Goodell, leaving is anything but voluntary, with the fear of having to pay back thousands of dollars in bonuses.
"To me, it was a threat that I just couldn't risk, as well as trying to take a little bit of control over what feels to me like an uncontrollable situation," Goodell said.
Goodell described it as painful.
"To have that ripped away is devastating to me," Goodell said. "I'm supposed to be going to sea next. I'm supposed to be leading our sailors out to sea, and I feel like that has now been taken from me."
Thousands of transgender U.S. military members have until Friday, June 6, to identify themselves and begin a voluntary separation from the armed forces under a ban implemented by the Trump administration.
Courtesy of DVIDS
Sabrina Bruce, a decorated Master Sergeant in the Space Force, also feels the uncertainty.
"I've served authentically, and it has not been an issue," Bruce said. "I've been promoted multiple times, multiple medals, awards, everything. It's never been an issue that's come up. I've never been good at anything in my life except the military. I found a community and a home in the military, and so the very real thought that I may lose that, it hurts because all I want to do is serve, and I want to continue giving back and continue standing up for this nation that we all believe in."
Thousands of transgender U.S. military members have until Friday, June 6, to identify themselves and begin a voluntary separation from the armed forces under a ban implemented by the Trump administration.
Courtesy of Space Force Master Sergeant Sabrina Bruce
Trump's position on transgender troops
The president has made no secret of his plans to oust transgender service members.
"Our warriors should be focused on defeating America's enemies, not figuring out their genders," Mr. Trump said on the campaign trail in North Carolina in August 2024.
While in Michigan in April, he promised to get "woke lunacy and transgender insanity the hell out of our government."
His administration reportedly wants commanders to "out" transgender troops or force them to get medical check-ups, where they would be identified and forced out of the military.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in April, "Expressing a false gender identity divergent from an individual's sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service."
Directives given to U.S. military
Although Hegseth had made formal assurances in a February memo that transgender service members would be treated with dignity, the Army's new internal directives to units instruct personnel to intentionally address transgender troops – even superior officers - in accordance with an individual's medical assignment at birth, rather than by their preferred pronoun.
Hegseth also told a Special Operations Force military conference in May, "No more dudes in dresses, we're done with that s***."
CBS News previously reported that under Army guidance, transgender officers will receive what's known as a "Code JDK" upon separation.
The code is for the Military Personnel Security Program. It's typically applied to discharge paperwork where a service member is being separated from the U.S. military for a security reason.
"You say they are the problem, but you can't identify them, and the government's response was we have to go through their medical records to figure it out," Col. Fram said. "And I think that's a pretty good indicator that we're not a problem. If you have to look for something in a file to identify someone who is a problem, they aren't the problem."
Goodell said, "I'm not a weak link…I'm an addition. I'm not a subtraction."
Bruce expressed hope to continue serving in some capacity, "Whether that's in uniform, outside of uniform, whatever that may mean."
Maryland Attorney General fights against ban
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said he joined 20 other attorneys general in filing a brief before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that Mr. Trump's ban on transgender troops is discriminatory and harms national security.
"These are courageous, skilled individuals who are willing to risk everything for their country. President Trump's unlawful ban sacrifices military readiness and basic human dignity for political gain. We must stand with all those who are ready to serve, not push them aside because of who they are," Brown said in a statement.
Court battles over ban on transgender troops
In the short term, hope is dimming for Bruce and other transgender troops.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government can oust transgender military service members while multiple legal challenges wind their way through lower courts.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt cheered the Supreme Court's order as a "massive victory" and said in a social media post that Mr. Trump and Hegseth "are restoring a military that is focused on readiness and lethality – not DEI or woke gender ideology."
Troops react to transgender ban
Col. Fram said bluntly, "What's likely going to happen is that by the time we get a ruling from the court that puts a final stamp on this, people's lives will have been disrupted. We will almost all—if not all of us—be gone from the military."
Goodell said the fear is tangible.
"There are times at night where I have to fend off panic attacks because I don't know what my future is going to be…like am I going to be able to learn a job outside of the military," Goodell questioned.
An analysis in 2017 found that discharging transgender troops would cost $1 billion, far more than the $52 million spent on gender-affirming care.
"In fact, we're taking some of them directly off the battlefield today," Fram said. "These are people who are deployed, doing their wartime mission, who are being told, 'You're not deployable. You need to come home.'"
Despite the directive, Fram stressed that her colleagues have her back.
"It really does make you stop and think about who you are and what you believe in," Fram said. "And what I think is so amazing about transgender service members is that they have done that look inside. They have said, 'This is who I am. This is what I believe in. I am here to fulfill my oath.' We don't swear that oath just to live by it in the easy times. We do it when it's hard, and right now is one of those hard times, but we're doing it. We are accomplishing the mission, and we will continue to do so until the last day we possibly can."
Thousands of transgender U.S. military members have until Friday, June 6, to identify themselves and begin a voluntary separation from the armed forces under a ban implemented by the Trump administration.
Courtesy of Colonel Bree Fram