Seventeen transgender members of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force have filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, saying the government unlawfully revoked their hard-earned retirements and stripped them of pensions and health care benefits that had already been approved.
The plaintiffs, each with more than 15 years of active-duty service, argue that the Air Force violated its own retirement rules when it canceled retirement orders issued in June 2025. Those orders were rescinded in August after the administration reinstated a ban on transgender military service.
Losing retirement status for these service members is not a minor paperwork change. It means the loss of up to one to two million dollars in lifetime pension benefits, along with the loss of health coverage that military families rely on for long-term stability and care.
Master Sergeant Logan Ireland, who served 15 years in the Air Force including a deployment to Afghanistan, said the reversal has left families facing profound uncertainty. “Ripping away the retirements we have earned is a betrayal of the sacrifices made by servicemembers and our families,” Ireland said. “We should not be thrown into economic hardship or made to feel our years of service are regarded by our country as meaningless.”
The rescissions stem from a February 2025 Defense Department directive that ordered the removal of all transgender service members unless they received a case-by-case waiver. Under the policy, anyone diagnosed with or showing signs of gender dysphoria is barred from continued service. Some of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit had already begun planning life after active duty when their retirements were abruptly canceled.
Legal advocates say the Air Force’s actions break long-standing norms about how the military treats those who have served honorably. “This is a senseless and shocking affront to troops who have sacrificed so much for our country,” said Michael Haley, staff attorney at GLAD Law. “These brave transgender servicemembers deserve the retirement benefits they have earned and that the Air Force granted them. As a country, we must honor our word to them, not rip away their benefits.”
Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, said rescinding these retirements underscores the severity of the administration’s policy. “There has never been an administration that has shown such open hostility to the brave men and women who have served our country,” Minter said.
For Ireland and the other plaintiffs, standing up in court is simply an extension of their service. I’m not gonna go down without trying to fight at every angle that I can,” Ireland said. “And if that’s through the court system, then that is where my fight is. That is my new battleground.”