By Bree Fram
Yesterday, I attended the first of what promises to be a string of heartbreaking events: service members retiring next to their uniform, not in it. The uniform standing beside the person who sacrificed, sweated, and, in many cases, bled for what it represented. Yet, they are denied the opportunity for a final honor: to wear, one last time, the uniform that defined them, that meant everything to them.
At the end of this year, it will be my turn to stand beside the uniform that carried my heart for 23 years.
The first to face this indignity is Coast Guard Captain Trey Wirth. And if you know Trey, you know he is a man of deep dignity, quiet strength, and boundless grace. You would have seen that in his ceremony through his words of gratitude and reverence for a country whose government has now said he is unworthy of the uniform. You would have seen it in the love and respect offered by those who served with him and under him.
The tears that are common at these ceremonies weren’t just in Trey’s eyes. They were in everyone’s, as story after story revealed his dedication, achievements, and the deep relationships he built over 25 years of honorable service.
Why was Trey, as many others will be, being denied the chance to wear the uniform?
Because under the auspices of Executive Order 14183, which cast aspersions on our character, we are being discharged with codes that mark us as national security concerns. Because the government has unilaterally imposed standards upon us based on our sex assigned at birth and ordered leaders to enforce them.
That means if we wear the uniform we've worn for years, the one that reflects who we are, we could face disciplinary action, including court-martial, a less-than-honorable discharge, and the loss of benefits.
Trey, and so many other honorable transgender service members, played by the rules. They did the right thing, even when it meant gritting their teeth and persevering through pain. Now the rules have changed. And we’ve been recast as the problem.
A problem which is apparently so severe that we’re not even allowed the simple dignity of wearing our uniforms on the way out the door.
Bree Fram is an Astronautical Engineer with the US Space Force.
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