--- title: Transgender Ban: My Gender Will Not Distract the Military description: President Donald Trump's tweets that transgender people will be banned from the military will distract more than open service ever did canonical: https://time.com/4878857/trump-transgender-military-ban-pritzker/ author: Jennifer Pritzker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-28T19:42:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:26:04.744Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Gender Status Doesn’t Distract the Military. Hiding Who You Are Does og:description: As a retired Lieutenant Colonel who hid herself, I know og:url: https://time.com/4878857/trump-transgender-military-ban-pritzker/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd81534b4c2cbefc4/6988d79b196cf40acd0413a0/donald-trump-twitter-transgender-ban-military-pritzker.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Soldier saluting og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gender Status Doesn’t Distract the Military. Hiding Who You Are Does twitter:description: As a retired Lieutenant Colonel who hid herself, I know twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd81534b4c2cbefc4/6988d79b196cf40acd0413a0/donald-trump-twitter-transgender-ban-military-pritzker.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gender Status Doesn’t Distract the Military. Hiding Who You Are Does > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=5597a72d-a8a2-4ac8-a9d3-4f0fa13a705f&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Transgender in the Military: Camouflaged Identity [Watch (HLS stream): Transgender in the Military: Camouflaged Identity](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/R659iSlZ.m3u8) (14:08)  _Published 2015-07-15. An estimated 15,000 transgender troops currently serve in the U.S. military. Each has risked dismissal from military service for revealing his or her identity. That could all be about to change. Directed by Gillian Laub and Shaul Schwarz_ by [Jennifer Pritzker](https://time.com/author/jennifer-pritzker/) ## Jennifer Pritzker Pritzker is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and Founder of TAWANI and Pritzker Military Foundations Jul 28, 2017 7:42 PM UTC by [Jennifer Pritzker](https://time.com/author/jennifer-pritzker/) ## Jennifer Pritzker Pritzker is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and Founder of TAWANI and Pritzker Military Foundations Jul 28, 2017 7:42 PM UTC On July 26, President [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4875089/transgender-troops-trump-backfire/) announced that he plans to [ban transgender people](http://time.com/4877230/trump-transgender-military-ban-myths/) from serving “in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” He tweeted, “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.” As a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, I agree with the President that our [military](http://time.com/4876984/ray-mabus-president-donald-trump-transgender-military-service-ban/) needs to be focused on victory. But as also a transgender woman who hid her identity as she served, I don’t see how my gender status can disrupt that objective. Being openly transgender is not nearly as distracting to soldiers as the President announcing that we will no longer be able to do the job we’ve been hired to do. The research has shown that service by transgender personnel will not harm combat readiness, morale or discipline and that it will impose no significant financial burden on the defense budget. A 2014 study conducted by the Williams Institute estimated that there’s about 15,500 [transgender military personnel](https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Transgender-Military-Service-May-2014.pdf) currently serving in either active duty or in reserve. Now please tell me who will fill those boots? Approximately 8,800 [active-duty service members](https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Transgender-Military-Service-May-2014.pdf) are transgender, thus making the Defense Department the single [largest employer](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-26/here-s-how-many-trans-people-serve-in-the-u-s-military) of transgender people in the U.S., according to the Human Rights Campaign. Additionally, a 2015 study shows that the financial burden that he speaks of is almost non-existent. The annual healthcare budget for the armed services is close to $47 billion. The monthly increase on healthcare will be [22 cents](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gay-rights-usa-military-idUSKCN0QI1HA20150813?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews) per service member. Transition care for soldiers is projected to cost around $5.6 million a year. That is not even a blip on the radar compared to the $84 million a year the Department of Defense currently spends [erectile dysfunction treatments](http://www.militarytimes.com/pay-benefits/military-benefits/health-care/2015/02/13/dod-spends-84m-a-year-on-viagra-similar-meds/), according to an analysis by the _Military Times_ in 2015\. It is even less compared to the nearly $900 million the Department of Defense was forced to spend on [sexual misconduct](http://www.businessinsider.com/almost-900-million-for-sexual-assaults-2013-4) for former military personnel in 2010 alone. And that $900 million does not even include the costs for victims that are still serving in the military. Transgender bodies are not the problem. As Commander in Chief, it is reckless and irresponsible for the President to completely [disregard military protocol](http://time.com/4876433/joseph-dunford-trump-transgender-ban-response/) and unilaterally declare a transgender service ban without even consulting Secretary of Defense James Mattis or other military leaders. They are far more educated on the subject than President Trump. Not consulting with them before sending out those ignorant tweets shows a complete lack of judgment on the President’s part. Our military is known for protecting the marginalized, so why aren’t we doing more to protect our marginalized transgender community? I believe in our armed services. I had to hide who I was in order to serve, but I did what I felt I had to do to serve my calling on this earth. Having to hide my true self is the biggest distraction I faced when I served in the military. Transgender military personnel put a ton of pressure on themselves just so they don’t accidentally say the wrong thing, use the wrong pronoun or act out of character. When President Obama lifted the ban in June 2016, that pressure was finally lifted off the current transgender servicemen and women. There are thousands of transgender veterans who have made enormous personal sacrifice to serve their country by subordinating their personal identities to service to our nation. They and those currently in the armed forces have served honorably — many with distinction and heroism. They are no different from other military personnel. Instead of fear or discrimination, I would like express gratitude to every man and woman who serves our nation, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation or religion. To all transgender military personnel: Stay strong. I will do my best to fight on your behalf. And to President Trump: I extend my hand. If you want to show everyone that you are a man of your word, take into consideration not only what I have to say but the other veterans and active-duty, transgender service members speaking out. If you don’t, it will only look like another example of partisan politics taking priority over facts and doing what’s right. ## Transcript When I found out I was going to Afghanistan, a lot of people were like, excited. Some people were shaken up. But I was more optimistic at the fact that I could, you know, maybe die and not have to face the reality of, you know, the life that nobody knew. I have a family. I had a wife, I had my pets, and I had things to come back to. But at the same time, those didn't mean anything to me because I wasn't able to be me with God, as you know, as a main focus of my life. I made a bet with him. I was like, Hey, 5050, you know, if I flip this coin and it lands on heads, I keep my heads off the lions on tails, I'm a blow it out when I flip that coin. I was hoping, you know, that I can just choose a way out. But I landed on heads, you know, And God, obviously to me, wanted to keep me around, but I didn't know why and I didn't question him. But I made a promise, you know, if I'm going to go and try to live the rest of my life, I'm going to try a little bit happy. I was like the really the most selfish being active ever chose to thing. But I was done pretending. I've been done for pretending for years. And yeah, I seem like a coward way out. Easy, way out. But it was something that I value that problem. And, you know, memorials are made after people. Who die in war. Memorials are made for trans people who balance dreams. I felt proud to be an American soldier and to be able to wear the flag on my shoulder and show that as an American, this is part of paying for our freedom and paying for our rights. The military does employ the most transgender people out of every corporation or any job in the United States. 15,000 people are transgender in the military serving right now. That's 15,000 people that are questioning who they really are and trying to be a soldier protecting the freedom of American rights. They're patriots. They are doing stuff that only 1% of the population does. And to have that cloud over them, I feel, limits them from having their full potential of being the best that they can be. Ironically enough, it was my promotion that outed me after they had saw that my enlistment paperwork said Female. I talked to a sergeant major and sat down, looked me in the face and said, So what are you? And I remember thinking, I'm human first and foremost, and I'm here to do my job. I took my first job, testosterone, and it was like I took my very first breath of life that made me a better person. And it made putting on that uniform so much easier. So I began without telling anybody except my closest friend at the time, and nobody asked any questions for a year. So while wearing a uniform and at work, I was female. I was she. I was her. But outside of work, in civilian clothes, outside of the base, everybody saw me as male. And then I left my command in Hawaii and arrived on the East Coast to begin my deployment training. I arrived by myself. Nobody from my unit was with me and everybody took me again at face value. So I went through uniform issue with the males, and then I went on to do combat training with the males. And then when I arrived in Afghanistan, I was in the barracks with the males like I had been through my entire training. And that's the picture I sent back home to my family whenever I was over there. My mom actually got rid of all my pictures from about time I was one to fairly recently. So 22, 23 years old. It was almost like having those pictures on display or hanging up in the living room or anything like that would be like having a stranger in your house for both of us. So she decided to get rid of them. And now all we have are pictures moving forward. I'm leaving out. Why would you just sit in one spot? I had this funny. Name for these patrols. I'd just like to go ahead and do my part and just try and do my job and live my life. I mean, look at the Army's core values. The loyalty, honor, respect. I mean, like these people, me included. I was honest with my chain of command. I took the courage to to tell them the truth, and they still kicked me out for it. I mean, I go to work scared every day that today is going to be the day they're going to hammer down on me for being mean, for just being mean, for just existing. I obviously joined the military as a male, and after a year of serving in the Army, I began transitioning from male to female. And by the time I left about five and a half years later, I left as a female soldier and definitely had a lot of anxiety that like somebody would call me out on it or somebody would just go in and start pushing the regulations and kick me out. But I remember there was this one instance was probably the last four months that I was in active duty. I was sitting in a conference room and it was me and my battle buddy. We were waiting for a brief and it was just the two of us. And I leaned back in the office chair and my makeup compact had actually fallen out of my cargo pocket. And you just looked at me, looked at the compact, and I was trying to think of some excuse as quickly as possible, like I was holding on to it for another female soldier. I was starting to say something like that, and all I did was reach down, picked it up and handed it to him and he's like, Dude, everybody knows, nobody cares. You're just still the same soldier that I've always hung out with, that I've always worked with. And and it doesn't bother me any. Being openly transgender in the military is found as a behavioral health disorder or mental disorder, and they can kick you out administratively or through a med board for being transgender. It's definitely hard to go from one extreme to the other when I have an amazing weekend with my friends and then wake up Monday morning and put on my uniform and know that I can tell anybody at work how busy my weekend was, what I did. It's it makes you feel separated from everyone around you. Like, this is me and this is me excited. This is me. Living doesn't feel like anything. It feels like normality. It feels like I'm just expressing who I am, what I am, you know, that's like, God made me this way and I want to fully express it. I'm going to fully love it and hold on to it and be able to do what I'm going to do to be me. And no one can take that from me. I mean, they can try as hard as they want, but this is who I am and this is who I always will be as grandmother. I don't care. There is grandmother. Hi, Carla. I saw I was okay. I was terrified. They may not that. Grandma doesn't like me. I say Grandma doesn't like me. So I'm going to get going. I'll talk to you guys later, okay? And I'll. Bye. Love you. The She isn't just busy. I mean, every time she's just busy or is is like I talk to her for a second and then she just walks away. She's been there, like, my whole life. And now since, like, this part of my journey when, like, she can help me and everything is just not there. I talked to a sergeant major, and he made me produce government paperwork that said I was male. And then he sent me back to work. And then only 15, 20 minutes later, I was pulled back again and told to pack my bags and I would be out on the next rotator, had to be escorted back to my room because all of a sudden I was a female and male space. So I had to be supervised to pack my bags and I had to bring everything to the loading docks and wait. And I was surrounded by these people who were going home after a deployment that had lasted them a year. And they were continuing talking about the things they were looking forward to, the things that they couldn't wait to see again, their families, their brothers, their sisters, their kids have a certain meal. And all I wanted to do was go back to work. I always knew that it was really just kind of bound to happen. Eventually, it was only a matter of time that the wrong person would figure me out and kick me out for it. Even though I was sworn in as a female and to the Ohio National Guard, the Battalion XO definitely made sure that you used to regulations in order to kick me out for being transgender. So within a year of being sworn in and completely accepted, I was rejected and kicked out. And even now that I'm a defense contractor, I make three times my salary as an active duty soldier. I'd definitely trade it in a heartbeat just to just to wear the uniform again and be a soldier like I was before. I nobody knew about my secret and nobody knew about the situation I was in. And it was actually easier to be in Afghanistan than it is to be in the States. There was only one thing I really had to do was go out and do missions and that really there's no future, There's no past. There's only that moment. And so being transgender didn't really matter as being a soldier mattered. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4878857/trump-transgender-military-ban-pritzker/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4878857/trump-transgender-military-ban-pritzker/"},"headline":"Gender Status Doesn’t Distract the Military. 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