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Seventeen transgender people Air Force members Those laid off under the Trump administration's transgender ban are suing the federal government for revoking their pensions and benefits after being forced into early retirement.
Transgender members who served 15 to 18 years in the Air Force are asking for pension benefits they were previously offered.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, comes after the Air Force said in August that transgender service members who served between 15 and 18 years would not be offered the opportunity to retire early and apply for benefits, a reversal of a previous decision.
Service members covered by the new policy now face losses of up to $2 million for their service over the course of their lives, in addition to the loss of health insurance benefits, according to GLAD Law, one of the advocacy groups that helped file the lawsuit.
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A group of 17 transgender Air Force members are suing the federal government after the military canceled their early retirement benefits. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The group's staff attorney, Michael Haley, said the elimination of early retirement benefits is part of a “general brutality in attacks on transgender people,” adding that some plaintiffs have received orders allowing them to retire and some have already begun the process of leaving the military.
“These are people who were going to move on with their lives, got permission to do so, and then it was taken away from them again,” Haley said.
An Air Force master sergeant with 15 years of service, including a deployment to Afghanistan, joined the lawsuit after his early retirement was rejected, saying “the military taught me to lead and fight rather than retreat.”
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Transgender service members are asking for retirement benefits that were previously available to them. (Reuters)
“Not retiring sends the message that these values only apply on the battlefield, not when the service member needs them most,” Logan Ireland told The Associated Press.
It's just the latest legal challenge to the administration's policy of forcing transgender people out of the military. In May, the US Supreme Court allowed ban on transgender troops move forward while legal proceedings continue.
President Donald Trump and the head of the Pentagon Pete Hegseth have targeted transgender service members as part of their efforts to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion in the military.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump have targeted transgender service members as part of their efforts to eradicate perceived diversity, equality and inclusion in the military. (Evan Vucci/AP)
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In addition to eliminating retirement benefits, in August the Air Force moved to deny transgender people the ability to advocate before a panel of their peers for the right to continue serving.
The Pentagon also recently unveiled a similar version of this policy for the military.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
