A group of transgender members of the U.S. Air Force are suing the Trump administration for denying them early retirement benefits, in a move they say is “unlawful and invalid.”
The complaint filed by 17 service members in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington on Monday is the latest legal challenge to the administration’s efforts to remove transgender service members from the military.
A group of transgender members of the U.S. Air Force are suing the Trump administration for denying them early retirement benefits, in a move they say is “unlawful and invalid.”
The complaint filed by 17 service members in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington on Monday is the latest legal challenge to the administration’s efforts to remove transgender service members from the military.
President Donald Trump in January issued an executive order targeting transgender troops, claiming that physical and mental health conditions make them “incompatible” with military service. In May, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to bar transgender members from the military while litigation against the ban continues.
The latest lawsuit stems from an August decision by the Air Force to deny transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of service the option of early retirement and withhold related benefits.
But GLAD Law, an advocacy group representing the plaintiffs, says that the Air Force had issued retirement orders in June for those being forced out by the administration’s ban.
“The Air Force’s own regulations state that once retirement orders are issued, they can only be rescinded in certain limited circumstances, such as fraud or a mathematical error. None of those circumstances are present for these service members, and the Air Force has not provided any legal basis for rescinding the retirements,” Michael Haley, a staff attorney at GLAD Law said in an email.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Ripping away the retirements we have earned is a betrayal of the sacrifices made by service members and our families,” one of the plaintiffs, Logan Ireland — a master sergeant whose 15-year service in the Air Force included a deployment in Afghanistan — said in a statement. “We should not be thrown into economic hardship or made to feel our years of service are regarded by our country as meaningless.”
Each plaintiff could stand to lose up to $2 million dollars in pension benefits and access to military health insurance, according to GLAD Law.
“They have all served and sacrificed for their country and earned these benefits,” Haley said. “It is part of the administration’s cruel and senseless targeting of transgender troops and transgender people more broadly.”
The Trump administration has taken a series of actions to roll back rights and protections for transgender people, including barring trans athletes from women’s sports and ending the policy of self-identifying gender on passports. Many legal challenges remain before the courts.
About 4,200 service members had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria as of Dec. 9, a senior defense official told The Washington Post in May on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Trump administration. That number is about 0.21 percent of the military’s total force and includes active duty, reserve and National Guard personnel.
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