Bree Fram was an Air Force[1] major in 2016 when word came down that the Obama administration would soon be lifting its ban on transgender troops serving in the military following a yearlong study and orders for commanders to educate themselves and their units on integrating transgender personnel.
It was during President Barack Obama's first term in 2011 that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the then-nearly 18-year-old ban on gay and lesbian troops serving openly, had ended. Despite some resistance in Congress, the intervening five years had gone smoothly, with few noteworthy hurdles for units adjusting to the more tolerant stance. Now, the administration wanted to open up service further.
Moments after the new policy supporting trans service members was approved, Fram sent an email to her colleagues and posted to Facebook disclosing that she identified as a woman. After clicking send, she got up from her desk, bolted to the gym and hopped on an elliptical in the lower levels of the Pentagon to work off the adrenaline, unsure of exactly what the response would be.
"I went nowhere faster than I'd ever gone in my life with all that nervous energy that I had," she quipped.
Whenever policies tied to who can serve and how have changed in the military, be it the ending of segregation in the ranks or inclusion of women in new specialties, there were warnings from those opposed that troops wouldn't accept their fellow service members and that unit cohesion would suffer.
But when she got back to her desk after the workout, Fram started to get a steady stream of colleagues stopping by. They shook her hand and told her, "It's an honor to serve with you."
The new norm of open service would last only a year.
In 2017, President Donald Trump began via tweet to unravel that policy and set off a yearslong process that culminated in the Pentagon not accepting new transgender service members and not providing existing troops with care for gender dysphoria, the medical term for identifying with a gender different than that assigned at birth, if they had not already been out and previously diagnosed.
"So no one new could come out within the military, and no one who was trans could get into the military," Fram explained. "We were functionally an endangered species within the service, but were allowed to continue serving and continue receiving care."
Fram, like the eight other transgender service members interviewed by Military.com for this story, noted that she was expressing her personal views and not speaking on behalf of the Defense Department or her service branch.
Fram said that, when the policy on trangender service members was reversed again five days into President Joe Biden's administration in 2021, it provided more acceptance but further illustrated the roller-coaster of policy changes that transgender service members had to navigate. She's now a colonel in the Space Force[2] and one of the most senior openly transgender officers serving in the military.
U.S. Space Force Lt Col. Bree Fram, an astronautical engineer, talks with attendees at a Pride Month event at Altus Air Force Base, June 5, 2023. (Airman 1st Class Heidi Bucins/U.S. Air Force photo)
Trump promised on the campaign trail to end acceptance of transgender service members, and several news outlets reported on a proposed executive order[3] that would medically discharge all trans service members from the military. Whether or not that order, or another like it, comes to fruition, Fram said the advice she gives to fellow transgender service members remains the same as during the first Trump-era ban.
"Lace up your boots and go get the job done, until or unless you get dragged out of the service and serving the country that you love so much and care about," Fram said.
The Department of Defense does not track the number of transgender service members, leaving a significant gap in reliable data. A 2016 study conducted by Rand Corp. estimated that between 1,300 and 6,600 transgender troops were serving at that time. Some studies and advocacy groups place that estimate much higher at about 15,000.
Transgender troops' right to serve -- perhaps even to fight and die for a nation they volunteered to defend -- has been subject to a whiplash-inducing series of policy reversals and partisan squabbles and created uncertainty as to what they will confront in the coming years.
But the nine transgender service members who spoke to Military.com delivered one uniform message: Their units have accepted them, and they just want to serve their country.
'I Love My Job'
Sgt. 1st Class Cathrine Schmid is not just a soldier; military service is woven into the fabric of her being. Mention the Army[4], and her eyes light up. A noncommissioned officer to her core, Schmid's dedication isn't performative patriotism wrapped in slogans and sentiment. It's visceral.
"I love my job," she says. "I really like being in the Army. I love soldiers. I love being around soldiers; I love talking to soldiers."
Schmid transitioned a decade ago, a decision that sparked some initial upheaval in the ranks she served in, but she was ultimately accepted by her commanders, even if they lacked the vocabulary or experience to fully understand her journey. Her identity is remarkably a nonfactor in her day-to-day Army life. Over several years, her medical leave amounted to no more than eight weeks, comparable to the recovery from a routine airborne school injury. For Schmid, her transition wasn't a disruption; it was simply part of her story.
She's a high performer and part of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club, among the most prestigious stamps of approval for some of the Army's top-performing NCOs, with troops having to demonstrate expert marksmanship, earn top scores on the service's fitness test, and go through a meticulous interview process.
Sgt. 1st Class Cathrine Schmid takes the Army Combat Fitness Test in December 2023. (Photo courtesy of Cathrine Schmid)
"I've got the institutional power of the senior NCO, I've got the shiny bits of metal on my uniform that say I've earned my place, and that isn't true for everybody," Schmid said. "I've been in long enough, and the military is close enough to a meritocracy, that people care less about whether I'm trans and whether I'm qualified, which is one of the best things about the military."
Data points to a seismic shift in Gen Z attitudes toward the LGBTQ+ community, with nearly 28% of young adults identifying as gay, lesbian, transgender or queer, Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit that researches public perception on cultural issues, found in a study[5] published earlier this year.
But despite the changing demographics, the incoming administration has specifically articulated a desire to prevent some of those same young adults from serving, despite the military services facing ongoing struggles effectively adding new recruits.
Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and a 13-year National Guard[6] veteran who has been tabbed by Trump to serve as his secretary of defense, slammed in his 2024 book, "The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free," what he perceived as a push to fill the ranks with LGBTQ+ troops, falsely suggesting recruiting[7] ads were targeting those demographics. A Military.com review of recruiting ads in the last half decade found that most military marketing spotlights men and makes no suggestions of their sexual orientation, and that there has been no systemic push to pitch service to LGBTQ+ Americans.
"Not only do the trannies and lesbians not join, but those very same ads turn off the young, patriotic, Christian men who have traditionally filled out ranks," Hegseth, whose confirmation is facing headwinds[8] tied to scrutiny of past infidelity, excessive drinking and alleged sexual assault, said in his book.
Throughout the Biden administration, Republican lawmakers and conservative media personalities have lambasted the military as being "woke," a nonspecific shorthand for acquiescence to progressive ideals, and for filling the ranks with those from the LGBTQ+ community, though there's little demographic evidence of a seismic change to the composition of the force. Those in service leadership don't see recent efforts at acceptance as interfering with the military's mission.
"Funny enough, there's a lot more room on the Left to hit us on making no effort to recruit these people," one Army marketing official told Military.com on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press, referring to LGBTQ+ groups. "Most of our stuff is dudes jumping out of airplanes and such, same ads we've been putting out for half a century, not targeting any specific demographics ... which has been part of our problem."
Acceptance in the Force
Transgender soldiers are now serving across a range of roles within the U.S. Army, including in front-line units and Special Forces[9]. For many of the nine transgender service members who spoke with Military.com -- their ranks spanning from junior soldiers to senior officers -- their experiences have generally been positive. While some acknowledge the possibility of occasional mockery behind their backs, they said the overall treatment from their peers and commanders has been respectful, and they feel accepted within their formations.
Yet, despite this camaraderie, some transgender service members believe that their careers may face obstacles. A number of them suspect that they have been sidelined from key training opportunities, prestigious assignments or advanced schools, with some of these setbacks seemingly stemming from commanders -- often older officers -- who may not have ever met a trans person before.
"There was an NCO who openly said some bigoted things. He called me a tranny to my face," one soldier told Military.com. "When I first started to use female facilities, I was terrified of getting rejected by other women. But they were all remarkably kind; they could probably see how visibly fearful I was. I always went to the showers with at least one female friend for protection. There was always a fear of rejection from other women."
Defense Secretary Ash Carter announces a new transgender policy for the Department of Defense at the Pentagon, June 30, 2016. (Petty Officer 1st Class Tim D. Godbee/U.S. Navy photo)
Navy[10] Cmdr. Emily Shilling, call sign "Hawking" for her love of physics, has spent nearly 20 years as a standout in the U.S. military. A decorated pilot with 60 combat missions from deployments[11] on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, Shilling has flown the EA-6B Prowler[12], EA-18 Growler[13], and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet[14] -- some of the Navy's most advanced jets.
But as the Trump administration prepares to take office, Shilling, who is transgender, is bracing for what could be a career-ending policy shift. As president of SPARTA, an advocacy group for transgender service members, she is deeply aware of what's at stake. With 19 years and five months in uniform, Shilling is just shy of the 20-year milestone needed for military retirement[15] benefits. If a new administration policy leads to her discharge, she could lose not only her pension but also access to the Defense Department's health care program. Also, depending on what type of discharge she receives, her children may lose access to her post-9/11 GI Bill[16] benefits.
She wants to serve for 26 years and aims to make captain.
She's also fighting for the future of others in her position, arguing that exclusion weakens the military. "History has shown that opening the military to qualified individuals makes us stronger," she said.
"We saw it with women. We saw it with people of color. This has held true for every group that was once excluded," she said, adding that she was sharing her views as a transgender service member and president of SPARTA, not as a representative of the Navy.
SPARTA is gearing up for what could be another fight over who is allowed to serve in uniform. Shilling said the organization is focused on preparing its 2,200 members for the worst. The group is prioritizing job placement and fundraising for medical expenses to support troops who might lose access to the military health system. "We'll let the legal experts take the lead," she said. "Our job is to make sure our people are taken care of."
She says she is tired of what she calls the "distraction" of the discussion.
"We've been serving openly for [nearly] 10 years now, and we just want to get back to fighting our nation's battles and defending the U.S.," she said.
