The Defense Dept. Is About to Fire More Than 13,700 Trans People
BY KATE SOSIN JANUARY 23 2019 2:02 PM EST
Alice Ashton has spent nearly half her life in the U.S. military.
Nearly 18 of her 39 years have been spent in the Air Force and Navy. Her father served in the Air Force from time she was two. So, what would the transgender Arabic linguist do if forced to find another job?
“I have a hard time answering that question,” she said. “Basically I joined the military, and it just seemed like the life I was meant to live.”
Tuesday brings a crushing reality for transgender Americans, already facing unemployment at three times (15 percent) the national rate according to the U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS).
“The military is the largest employer in the nation and, as the USTS found, transgender people are twice as likely to have served in the Armed Forces as the general population,” noted Gillian Branstetter, media relations manager for the National Center for Transgender Equality.
It’s those two facts that have led many to conclude that U.S. military is the single largest employer of transgender people in the nation.The USTS found in 2015 that a staggering 18 percent of all transgender people had served in the military.
An estimated 13,763 transgender service members face dismissal as the Supreme Court announced Tuesday it would allow President Donald Trump’s transgender military ban to take effect.
https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2019/1/23/defense-dept-about-fire-more-13700-trans-people
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