Just one month after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the exile of all transgender troops from the military, the military is fighting back. Of the 12 Navy and Marine Corps boards recently surveyed by the New York Times, nine have voted to retain their trans service members against orders.
While the same pattern has not been observed in the Army or Air Force, who are largely discharging trans personnel, the significance of everyday Navy and Marine service members — officers usually sworn to militant obedience — rejecting Trump’s anti-trans agenda cannot be overstated.
“These boards are being told to do something that they know is wrong — to rubber-stamp a non-choice given to them by the administration,” Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force lawyer, told the New York Times. “We are seeing them say they’re not going to play that game. We are seeing them nullify a process they see as unjust.”
