Washington – As members of the transgender service face a deadline for leaving the United States Army, hundreds are taking the financial bonus to voluntarily split. But others say they will stay and fight.
For many, it is a heartbreaking decision to finish a career that loves and leaving units with which they have directed or worked for years. And they are angry because they are being forced by the renewed prohibition of the Trump administration of transgender troops.
The members of the active service service had until Friday to identify and begin to leave the army voluntarily, while the National Guard and the Reserve have until July 7. Then, the military will begin involuntary separations.
The deadline of Friday occurs during the pride month and when the Trump administration is directed to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, saying that it aims to scrub the military of “Wokeness” and restore a “warrior spirit.”
“They are tired of the roller coaster. They just want to go,” said a member of the transgender service, who plans to retire. “It’s exhausting.”
For others, it is a call to weapons.
“I am choosing to stay and fight,” said a non -commissioned officer in the Air Force. “My service is based on merit, and I have earned that merit.”
The troops, which spoke mainly under condition of anonymity because they fear reprisals, said that being forced to decide is frustrating. They say that it is a personal choice based on individual and family situations, even if they would obtain an infusion of cash or possibly end due to government money.
“I am very disappointed,” said a transgender sailor. “I have overcome, I have an impeccable album. I am at the top of each physical conditioning report. They are pushing me while I know that others are barely scraping.”
Some transgender troops decide to go based on finance
The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegesh, said that this is the directive of President Donald Trump and for what the United States voted. The Pentagon, he said, is “leaving the wokeness and weakness behind” and that includes “no more types in the dresses.”
Illinois’s Tammy Duckworth Senator, a veteran, and another 22 Democratic senators have written to Hegseth urging him to allow transgender troops to continue serving honorably.
Already, more than 1,000 members of the service have been voluntarily identified as transgender and are scheduled to start leaving, according to estimates of the Department of Defense. Defense officials say there are about 4,240 transgender active duty troops, but recognize that the numbers are confused.
For many, the decision is financial.
Those who voluntarily get twice the amount of separation payment that they would normally receive and will not have to return bonds or registration costs. Those who refuse to go could be forced to pay re -drain or other bonds of up to $ 50,000.
That was the turning point for Roni Ferrell, a specialist in the army at the Lewis-Mcchord joint base, near Tacoma, Washington.
Ferrell, 28, lives at the base with his wife and two children and had planned to remain in the army for at least another decade. But she said she felt “backed in a corner” to sign the voluntary separation agreement, fearing that he had to pay a $ 18,500 re -execution bonus.
“My commander basically said it was my only option to make sure my children are treated,” Ferrell said.
The Marine, who has served for more than 25 years, said she had planned to stay and fight, but changed her mind. The lawyers, he said, told him that an involuntary separation would put a code in his registration saying that he was forced to leave “in the interest of national security.”
That designation, he said, could mean that those involuntarily separated could lose their security authorizations, harming future labor perspectives.
In a statement on Friday, a defense officer said that the code “intends to activate authorization revocations and that gender dysphoria is not a requirement of security reports, according to the National Intelligence Director. The official spoke about anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Cynthia Cheng-Wun Weaver, senior director of litigation for the Human Rights campaign, said it is important that the troops talk to the general defender judge in their services to ensure that they understand the different procedures that are implemented.
Other transgender troops plan to stay despite the ban
The member of the Air Force service and a transgender officer in the Army National Guard said they plan to stay and fight. Demands on prohibition continue and could change or block the policy.
For the troops involved in judicial battles as plaintiffs, voluntarily leaving now would probably damage their position in the case. For others, it is simply dedication to his career.
“I have really embraced military culture, and has accepted me,” said the member of the Air Force. “It’s not about money. It’s the career I love.”
The guard of the guard echoed that feeling, saying that he will stay “because it is important for me to serve. Frankly, I am good in that, I am well trained, so I want to continue.”
Others without bonds to pay or who have been in the army only little time and will not get much in the separation, the bonus payment can choose to stay and see what happens.
The National Guard troops face a particular problem
The members of the National Guard who are heading to their monthly simulation weekend or an annual two -week simulation in June could be required, but serve as the genre that were assigned at birth.
That means they would have to use uniforms and hair cuts of that genre, use that bathroom and refer as “Lord” or “lady” based on that genre.
For many, that could be almost impossible and create uncomfortable situations.
“If you had to appear to pierce this weekend, it is expected to use all female facilities, it is expected to use a woman’s uniform,” said the army guard officer, who made the transition to man about five years ago and says that others in his unit know him as a man. “I don’t look like a woman. I don’t feel like a woman. It would be harmful to a good order and discipline to appear and tell my soldiers, now you have to call me ‘Ma’am'”.
It is not clear if the guard units handle it in the same way, and could depend on individual states or commanders. Some may allow troops to postpone the drill or continue with administrative license.
What happens later for transgender troops?
The members of the service interviewed by Associated Press said they do not know what will happen once the deadline to go voluntarily.
Some believe that unit’s commanders will quickly release people and begin involuntary separations. Others say that the process is vague, can involve medical review joints and could take months.
The defense official said Friday that as the Pentagon takes these steps, “it will treat members of our service with dignity and respect.”
Under the directive of Hegseth, the military commanders will be told to identify troops with gender dysphoria, when the biological sex of a person does not coincide with their gender identity, and send them to obtain medical checks to expel them from the service, defense officials said. The order is based on annual routine health controls, so it could happen months before that evaluation is scheduled.
“My true point of conflict is that the entire impulse of this administration is to reform this country based on merit, and that gender, race, etc., should not have any factor in hiring,” said the member of the Air Force Service. “If that’s true, I’m just being eliminated for my genre, and merit is no longer a factor.”
