Transgender Air Force members sue Trump admin after losing retirement benefits

Seventeen transgender Air Force members discharged under the Trump administration s transgender ban are suing the federal regime for revoking their pensions and benefits after their forced early retirement The transgender members who served between years and years in the Air Force are asking for retirement benefits that had previously been offered to them The lawsuit filed on Monday comes after the Air Force announced in August that transgender arrangement members who have served between and years would not be offered the option to retire early and apply for benefits a reversal of an earlier decision The operation members impacted by the new agenda now face a loss of up to million owed for their operation over the curriculum of their lifetimes on top of the loss of medical insurance benefits according to GLAD Law one of the advocacy groups that helped bring the lawsuit FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN BIDEN-ERA TRANSGENDER REGULATIONSA staff attorney with the group Michael Haley explained the revocation of the early retirement benefits was part of the general cruelty in attacking transgender people adding that several of the plaintiffs had received orders allowing their retirements and that various had already started the process of leaving the military These are folks who are going to move on with their lives have received the OK to do so and then have that taken away from them once again Haley explained A master sergeant in the Air Force with years of amenity including a deployment to Afghanistan joined the lawsuit after having early retirement rejected saying the military taught me to lead and fight not retreat PENTAGON STOPPING GENDER TRANSITION HEALING FOR TRANSGENDER TROOPS Stripping away my retirement sends the message that those values only apply on the battlefield not when a utility member demands them the bulk Logan Ireland recounted The Associated Press This is just the latest legal challenge against the administration s policies that seek to force transgender troops out of the military In May the U S Supreme Court allowed the ban on transgender troops to move forward while legal challenges proceed President Donald Trump and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth have targeted transgender function members as part of their efforts to root out diversity equity and inclusion in the military On top of revoking retirement benefits the Air Force moved in August to deny transgender members the opportunity to argue before a board of their peers for the right to continue serving The Pentagon also just now revealed a similar version of that approach across the military The Associated Press contributed to this record