In a major reversal, the U.S. Air Force announced last week it was yanking a policy that would have allowed transgender troops to retire early, with generous benefits, if they have 15 to 18 years of honorable service. The new policy takes away that allowance and instead offers them a lump sum payment.
President Donald Trump, focused on a tough, war-ready armed forces, banned transgender troops from serving in uniform in a February executive order. That EO stated quite bluntly there is no room in a military uniform for anyone who believes they were born in the wrong body, and it likened that condition to people who are suicidal, bipolar, and have eating disorders.
That policy, upheld in a May ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, was a complete reversal from the Biden administration that fawned over trans-identifying troops (pictured at right) and recognized “International Transgender Day of Visibility.”
The number of open transgenders in a military uniform was estimated to be 14,700 in 2019.
Derek Jones, a retired U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, now serves as executive director of Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. He says the previous administration considered transgenderism normal behavior.
“It defies law. It defies natural law,” he says. “And now it defies the law of the United States.”
Gordon Klingenschmitt, an Air Force Academy graduate, recognizes the new policy might be “painful” to many Air Force personnel but he, too, sees only a positive change.
“Maybe they shouldn't have lied about their sex,” he insists. “These men are not women, and so they really should be drummed out of the service for lying about their gender identity."
