The US Air Force Thunderbirds perform at the 2024 Legacy of Liberty Airshow at Holloman Air Force Base. Photo: Bill Chizek via iStockphoto
The U.S. Air Force says it will separate all transgender personnel with 15 to 18 years of service without retirement benefits. The move denies them early retirement under a policy that normally allows some members with more than 15 — but fewer than 20 — years of service to retire with prorated benefits instead of completing the standard 20 years.
Under the Temporary Early Retirement Authority (TERA), service members approved for early retirement receive prorated benefits — including insurance coverage, disability pay, and access to housing on military bases.
As reported by Air & Space Forces magazine, TERA was created in the 1990s as the Cold War wound down and has been used to reduce force size or specific career fields. It was last widely implemented in 2013 to manage budget cuts from sequestration.
An Air Force spokesperson told the magazine that about a dozen transgender service members had their early retirement requests approved.
However, on August 4, Brian Scarlett — the senior civilian performing the duties of the Air Force’s assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs — issued a new policy reversing the early retirement approvals.
In a memo, Scarlett cited President Trump’s executive order aimed at forcing transgender service members out of the military. The order claims that being transgender is a mental disorder and that identifying as such “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life,” rendering them “unfit for military service.”
An Air Force spokesperson told the Associated Press that those members had not been approved for TERA, but were “prematurely notified” they could retire before the decision was reversed. A Monday memo announcing the new policy said the denial of retirement benefits for the roughly dozen transgender applicants came “after careful consideration of the individual applications.”
Notably, the statement to the AP and the memo contradict information provided to Air & Space Forces magazine, suggesting the Air Force either lacks consistent talking points or is offering whatever rationale suits its effort to enforce Trump’s transgender service ban.
As a result, transgender service members facing expulsion under the Trump administration must either accept a lump-sum “voluntary separation” payment — similar to those offered to junior troops without enough years for retirement benefits — or be removed from the service. Those who separate voluntarily will keep any bonus pay earned before May 15, and all remaining service obligations will be waived.
The difference between retiring and separating can cost a service member hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime.
These moves follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s May decision allowing the Pentagon to implement the transgender service ban, even as legal challenges to the policy continue in the courts.
Days later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that transgender service members could voluntarily separate from the military with a large, one-time payout — provided they did so by June 6 — or risk expulsion and the loss of any benefits accrued during their service.
Shannon Leary, a lawyer who represents LGBTQ clients in employment discrimination cases, says she expects lawsuits challenging Scarlett’s actions. Without court intervention, she anticipates other service branches will follow the Air Force’s lead.
“It seems quite arbitrary on its face and cruel,” she said. “These military members have dedicated their lives to serving our country.”
Logan Ireland, a master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force with 15 years of service, including a deployment to Afghanistan, told the AP he feels “betrayed and devastated by the news.” He said he learned of his early retirement denial on Wednesday when his chain of command, “with tears in their eyes,” delivered the news.
“This is a core part of who I am, and now it’s just being ripped from me,” Ireland told the Advocate. “So being allowed to still retire was a way for me to find closure and was a way for me to look at the Air Force and say, ‘you know what? Despite this policy, they’re trying to do right by some service members and allowing us to retire early.’ But now I feel like I was just betrayed by the same service that once celebrated who I am.”
“This has nothing to do with military readiness,” said Jay Brown, chief of staff at the Human Rights Campaign. “It’s cruelty for cruelty’s sake.”
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Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has subpoenaed records from the Kilted Mermaid, a popular Vero Beach restaurant, as part of an investigation into a June 29 "Pride Tea Dance" featuring music, dancing, and drag shows.
Uthmeier's office claims the restaurant allowed "adult, sexualized performers in front of children," allegedly violating Florida's blocked law banning drag shows and other "adult live performances."
Announcing the probe on X, Uthmeier wrote, "In Florida, we don't sacrifice the innocence of children for the perversions of some demented adults." He said his office had subpoenaed Kilted Mermaid owner and Vero Beach Vice Mayor Linda Moore to testify and provide documents related to the event.
A Henrico County Circuit Court judge has partially overturned Virginia's ban on conversion therapy by signing a June consent decree with Attorney General Jason Miyares and the Virginia Department of Health Professions.
The decree stems from a lawsuit by Front Royal counselors John and Janet Raymond and allows licensed professionals to conduct "talk therapy" aimed at convincing minors to "change" or suppress feelings related to their sexual orientation or gender identity, provided they use only verbal methods and avoid physical conversion practices.
Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer has signed an executive order protecting transgender individuals from having their medical or personal information shared with out-of-state authorities seeking to prosecute them for obtaining gender-affirming care.
Meyer signed the order last Friday at the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center, surrounded by LGBTQ advocates and activists.
The order prohibits Delaware state agencies from cooperating with out-of-state investigations targeting anyone who provides, receives, or assists others in obtaining legal gender-affirming care, such as hormone therapy or puberty blockers. It also bars agencies from sharing medical records, billing data, or personal information about anyone involved in such care.
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