1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

The transgender military ban is forcing out qualified, decorated service members for no legitimate reason. You need to take action to reverse this discriminatory policy immediately. Major Erica Vandal, a 14-year Army veteran with a Bronze Star who deployed to Afghanistan, was separated from the Army on January 1st solely for being transgender. Not for performance issues. Not for misconduct. For her identity. She and others like her are losing their careers, income, housing, and health care while a federal lawsuit challenges the ban's legality. The military's justification doesn't hold up. A review of 58 empirical studies found no data showing transgender troops are less deployable or harm unit cohesion. Vandal herself states that gender-affirming care has zero impact on deployment ability. We're discarding talent based on bias, not evidence. This policy weakens our military by ejecting experienced personnel during a time when recruitment is already challenging. Vandal would return to service in a heartbeat if allowed. The question is whether we value readiness or discrimination. Support legislation to overturn this ban and allow qualified service members to continue defending our country.