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what's going on it's [ __ ] up [ __ ] what's going on basically the White House announced that they were going to release guidance the Pentagon for the ban we have some breaking news right now about transgender service members in the United States military the journal just in the past few minutes has described a White House memo that quote directs the Pentagon to deny admittance to transgender individuals and to stop spending on medical treatment regimens for those currently serving it's just not right your brothers and sisters-in-arms do you feel concerned for their safety I feel very concerned one person decides that were unfit for service or that we cost too much when there are so many ther things that cost so much more yeah can we just turn off the cameras for a minute please a few weeks before Trump's proposed ban I was contacted by Rachel Waverly a trans soldier who is in the process of being separated from the US military despite her desire to stay to be clear Rachel's dismissal was in motion months before the proposed ban still she believes the circumstances surrounding how she was separated were based on issues related to her gender identity so I went to Fort Hood Texas on the day of Rachel's discharge to learn more about her case good morning just got my discharge papers really here must be a big moment after two years of service I mean like I don't want to leave it just kind of feels final anyway yeah have you packed your entire life into this car yes I got a TV play carrier is Rachel packed away in there no I say that she is very alive can you tell me about one of your favorite times working at the non-dairy oh there's a lot of stories anything as simple as covering for when your buddies it could be just relaxing out the smoke pit after work it's that sense of brother and sisterhood when I joined my goal was to be able to get up on my feet and do something beneficial for both my country and my state I send me everything Rachel came from a military family and had always wanted to serve her country so she joined the army when she was 18 as a satellite communication specialist Rachel excelled in her first few weeks even winning an award for outstanding achievement during a mission but despite her successes Rachel wasn't able to live openly as a woman on base something that caused her significant anxiety and stress throughout her military career did you experience the source of shame around your gender identity in the past definitely I mean always being told that there was something wrong with these kinds of people or that they were just sick and for so long I was always holding off on even admitting to myself did you expect that you would be able to join the military and have it be publicly known that you're transgender no I went in fully expecting that I would have to conceal my gender identity for as long as my service commitment was and that I'd never be able to openly serve as a transgender soldier how did you reach the point where you're finally able to admit it and accept it when the US military announced that they were allowing open transgender service transgender individuals had never been allowed to openly serve in the military but in June 2016 the Obama administration and did that policy effective immediately transgender Americans may serve openly and they can no longer be discharged or otherwise separated from the military just for being transgender this change of policy was a landmark moment for transgender soldiers like Rachel and it gave her enough assurance to pursue her own transition she met with a handful of military doctors who diagnosed her with gender dysphoria and outlined a treatment plan for her to start gender transition as soon as possible people who have gender dysphoria feels strongly that their gender does not match their biology and that conflict causes major stress and anxiety in their life it's a very common and very treatable condition for many transgender individuals how did it feel to receive this establishment recognition of your identity I mean it it felt very validating for having so many years suspected something and finally having a professional say this is obviously the issue were you able to obtain the that you needed to begin treatment no there was one approval that I ever received and that was the approval of my brigade commander without that command approval Rachel was never allowed to begin her treatment plan instead she became caught up in an endless back and forth between her medical team and her supervisors and six months later she was discharged i spended their request to my chain of command for approval on the following weeks and eventually pushed back for minor clerical things it was pushed back once for not attaching a new birth certificate and man sometimes leadership would just outright lie to me and say oh it's been signed or we require more information or it's been denied I wanted to know if Rachel's difficulty transitioning and getting care was common so I spoke with Sparta the group that advocates and represents the LGBTQ members of the US military given everything there has been a state of confusion on the ground but for the most part service members have been supported by their commands so do you think it's possible today that there are people serving in the US military either in leadership positions or otherwise who may not have a deep understanding of what trans issues are and feel emboldened by the hostility that's being sent out from the administration towards trans people in the military absolutely military historically has been a cross-section of the country right so the fact that we're experiencing higher levels of discrimination outside of the military is going to tell you that we're still going to experience those kinds of situations within the military because some medical conditions in the military like transgender care require command approval access to treatment can depend on how good or bad the relationship is between a service member and their commanding officer while I was in Fort Hood I spoke with another trans service member who's had a generally positive experience transitioning he's still asked to have his voice and face distorted due to the politically charged environment around this issue so when did you first meet Rachel very nice single over job situations the unit you have a different command brigade commander than Rachel does yes did you need the approval of your brigade commander to begin any sort of I will need yes for the medical part yes I'll need a signature but from what I understand is that there's no reason why they wouldn't is there they're very open-minded how do you think that to people who serve on the same post in the same army could have such disparate experiences regarding coming out as trans so the people around you initially that really dictate how it's going to go people kind of us is you know freaks whose lack of a better word so it's hard um and when people have that bias they may think oh you know you've got good work ethic but now you've got this so you can go crazy or you think you want this I guess they're they're using the bias to pretend to be worried about your ability and what kind of impact you think that could have on your ability as a soldier I was told they just because I'm trans I'd be a no good soldier that would crush me I would be terrible and you know unfortunately for Rachel's case it may have had something to do with her being relatively new to the unit I had the benefit of being in my unit for you know two years so they knew me as a person first because you can always fight it you can always be tough but if everyone around you is saying you know we don't want you here eventually you're gonna leave I figured we go down to a gun range I used to go to I see no reason just because of my gender identity to have to put a hobby that I enjoy behind me oh my god have never fired a gun before maybe you should try I'm going to you have to wear this yep just uh grab some glasses okay oh my god I never thought I'd be in Texas I guess I'm in your world now [Music] when the military neglected to approve of your reticle plan for gender transition did it negatively affect your mental health it was crushing in a way knowing that again something that was so close was still so far out of reach being told that I wouldn't be receiving treatment that because I was trans that wasn't that great of a soldier or that I was just a burden it was just so constantly degrading that I mean I eventually had a suicide attempt what was the administration's response to your suicide of tongue it was very clinical it seemed very much treated separate from the general dysphoria even though I don't think that I would have ever met an attempt in my life had people shown support or had I received medical treatment do you believe that your suicide attempt negatively impacted the likelihood of you obtaining gender transition approval without a doubt even though a suicide attempt might seem like a good enough reason to discharge someone from the military sadly suicide attempts are not uncommon for active-duty service members especially in a soldier's first year there are many many individuals that I've worked with over my 30 years in uniform who had suicidal ideation even attempts and we were able to intervene with the right support social support medical support and help them continue to serve after Rachel's suicide attempt she continued to be denied medical treatment to transition and she was ordered to complete a fitness of Duty test something that's given to soldiers to evaluate their ability to continue military service following that test Rachel was diagnosed with a personality disorder a serious condition that had never been previously identified was it the same person who diagnosed you with gender dysphoria and had been treating you for months no in fact the first time that I met with this person was the time that this this evaluation took place so the results of that evaluation were based on one encounter yes a diagnosis of personality disorder is a completely different kind of medical condition than gender dysphoria and it became the basis for Rachel's discharge 20 days later the traits of this other personality disorder were things specifically like is unwilling to get involved with people must certain of being liked is preoccupied with being criticized or rejected in social situations shows restraint within intimate relationships because of the fear of being ashamed or ridiculed do you personally feel like those things reflect you I mean doesn't everybody have some of these things that you could meet but as a transgender person myself being familiar with what it's like to actually transition these are things that happen when you're not allowed to begin medical treatment for gender transition and when you're in an environment where people aren't supportive of your gender transition they explained a way a lot of the traits of gender dysphoria as a personality disorder nothing behavioral or psychological at all but it seemed just to add to the narrative that this person is broken a personality disorder that's a lifelong condition there has to be evidence of difficulties functioning at home at work at school that's extended over the period of a lifetime I'm not going to second-guess the medical professionals or the commanders who were worth working specifically with Rachel but I will say it's because of this issue of personality disorders and their over use in terms of diagnosis that the Department of Defense changed their policy in 2008 the Government Accountability Office concluded that thousands of soldiers had been wrongfully discharged under the diagnosis of personality disorders as a way of getting rid of unwanted soldiers and a way to save money the military crackdown after the 2008 report but the issue of their misuse persists even today a personality disorder it's still something that is used to discharge people who become unwanted they found a way to do it and they did the same thing with gay people they did the same thing with with any of those ideological issues that we have been working to change over the last 25 years in the military right we can put all the policies in place that we want someone will fill still find a way to discriminate was there anyone you had worked with on a clinical basis who had disagreed with that diagnosis oh yeah my psychiatrist and another psychologist and they were both employed by the army I remember my prescribing psychiatrist openly said that if I just received medical treatment that no this would have ever happened and he absolutely did not agree with the diagnosis of an other specified personality disorder the case against Rachel's diagnosis and discharge was so strong in fact that the senior defense counsel at Fort Hood Maj Stacy Kane issued a 35-page memo outlining the illegality of Rachel's discharge Kane cites incomplete evidence and the fact that rachel is diagnosed personality disorder by someone who doesn't even have the medical degree it legally required to make such a diagnosis we reached out to Fort Hood for comment on Rachel's separation but they couldn't provide any information on the nature of her discharge you know we don't have a single soldier sailor Airman marine or Coast e to waste but in the long run the military will get this right and lead the way as they have so many times before but in the near term in the now term you have individuals like Rachel who are getting caught up in the undertow and the turbulence of this wrenching social change Rachel's case highlights the potential for trans servicemembers to be singled out by individuals who can use this historically easy method of discrimination as the basis for their discharge being discharged left Rachel with no place to go even though she's from Houston rachel has been living in a hotel because her family does not accept her gender identity did they tell you you could not come home not explicitly she's been made very clear that I'm not welcome in their house so you've been discharged from the United States military really without anywhere to go very much so yeah I mean I grew up in a very conservative very religious household and they've told me in the past that God doesn't agree with this or you're going against the church in the Bible so we're outside your family's house you know they're right inside there is there something that you'd want to say to them I mean really that I love them and at some point I really really want to reconnect what was at stake for you serving in the military and what did it cost you to be discharged my entire life my family I mean sacrificing a roof over my head food a job almost everything so what is your plan I mean I don't know I would love to be able to see myself in a public service position again whether that be as a paramedic or a firefighter I mean it feels very very uncertain and there are so many things that I simply do not have the answers for since the president's first tweets announcing a ban on trans servicemembers there's been widespread confusion on how this would even be implemented the White House couldn't provide answers to the most basic questions what happens to transgender servicemembers now are they immediately thrown out of the military the Department of Defense and the White House will have to work together as implementation takes place the Pentagon will not say if matters agree with the sudden Trump announcement there's also been strong pushback from both sides of the aisle the new policy was quickly criticized by fellow Republicans in Congress I want a strong vibrant military but I want to be fair the best way to do this is have a hearing not a tweak president Trump claims that transgender Americans are financial burden to the US military but in reality medical care of trans servicemembers represents less than 1% of the military's entire budget that's ten times less than what they currently spend on erectile dysfunction medication in the fall of 2017 two federal judges blocked the proposed ban from being implemented Trump can still take his fight to the Supreme Court but whether he is successful or not in implementing this ban serious questions remain about how the military will deal with transgender servicemembers given today's contentious political environment it feels like I was told that because I was transgender that my oath of enlistment that my dedication of service that didn't really matter just because the politics of the country that I love and live in it's change doesn't mean that I'm going to give up in this country I mean I'm still gonna fight I'm still going to keep pushing for what I believe is right Rachel's story might not represent the experiences of all trans soldiers today but it gives some insight into the way that the military can administrative lea get rid of unwanted service members with or without a ban and how easy that might be under an administration that embolden such discrimination [Music] you [Music]