Sawt Falasteen - Once accepted, trans troops face dismissal from US military

Trump repeatedly took aim at trans people during the 2024 election campaign and signed an executive order in January stating they were unfit for military service, while the Pentagon has said it will remove transgender troops from the armed forces and prevent others from joining.

The ban has been challenged in court, but unless a judge issues an injunction soon, thousands of transgender military personnel may be just weeks away from the start of proceedings to force them to cut short their careers.

"I'm heartbroken about the loss, not just for myself, if it comes to that, but for all of us," said Fram, who spoke to AFP in a personal capacity and whose views do not necessarily reflect those of the Defense Department or US government.

"I think all of us want to be able to take the uniform off at a time and a place of our choosing," said the 45-year-old engineer, who served for 18 years in the Air Force before transferring to the Space Force.

"When it's your own government that says you have to take that off because you are somehow not suitable for military service, that's painful."

- 'Best version of ourselves' -

Transgender Americans have faced a roller coaster of changing policies on military service in recent years, with Democratic administrations seeking to permit them to serve openly, while Trump has tried to keep them out.

The US military lifted a ban on transgender troops in 2016, during Democrat Barack Obama's second term as president, after which Fram publicly came out as transgender.

But Trump took office the following year, launching his first attempt to ban transgender troops with a 2017 tweet that landed "like a lightning bolt out of the blue," Fram said. "The initial reaction was shock."

President Joe Biden lifted the restrictions in 2021, but Trump was reelected last year after making clear he would again seek to roll back transgender rights.

"This time around, it's been more like a hurricane approaching shore that you can see coming," she said.

But the latest restrictions are even harsher, targeting transgender personnel who are already openly serving in the military as well as those who want to come out or enlist.

"It's a challenge when your identity becomes political, because trans people are not broken. We're not asking anyone to fix us. We're merely reaching for the best version of ourselves," said Fram.

- Seeking 'the same opportunity' -

She said being true to herself has made her better at her job.

"I truly became a better commander, a better leader, by transitioning and embracing my authenticity and letting people in to hear my story, because then they wanted to share theirs," Fram said.

Chief Petty Officer Ryan Goodell, a 32-year-old US Navy cryptologic technician, came out as trans in 2018, before Trump's first attempt to ban trans troops went into effect.

The Republican's second ban "came as no surprise. It is disappointing nonetheless, right? Because I have 13 years in and I had planned on doing 20 -- at least 20 to retire," he said.

Goodell -- who like Fram spoke to AFP in a personal capacity, and whose views are his own and do not reflect those of the government or Defense Department -- now faces leaving the Navy before he was ready to do so, an experience he described as "nerve-wracking."

While government officials have declared trans people unfit to serve, "we've had 10 years of service showing that the things being said about us are just untrue and not based in fact at all," said Goodell.

"We understand that there's no right to serve. We just ask for the same opportunity as our cisgender counterparts to show that not only are we meeting the expectations as laid out before us now, we've in some cases exceeded them."

T.Khatib--SF-PST