00:00U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that took aim at transgender
00:07troops.
00:08The order said that expressing a, quote, gender identity different from an individual's sex
00:12at birth did not meet military standards, and that a man identifying as a woman was,
00:17quote, not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.
00:23A day later, transgender rights advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the order, saying
00:28it violated the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment.
00:32Navy Commander Emily Schilling is a test pilot and combat veteran who leads SPARTA,
00:36an advocacy group for transgender troops.
00:39She says transgender service members began preparing for possible restrictions well in
00:43advance of Trump's election win.
00:46In preparation for a potential ban, SPARTA has started over a year ago training ambassadors.
00:53We brought them in and trained them how to talk to media, how to talk to generals and
00:58admirals, how to talk to congresspeople.
01:00That way, the stories that really matter about trans service members bringing strength to
01:07our service, bringing their individual courage to the fight can be told rather than how they
01:16might be a detriment.
01:18Trump's order banned the use of what it called, quote, invented pronouns in the military.
01:23However, it did not answer basic questions, including whether transgender soldiers currently
01:27serving would be allowed to stay, and if not, how they would be removed.
01:33Removing transgender troops from active service today will have a detrimental effect on our
01:39combat readiness.
01:41These individuals are deployed worldwide.
01:44They're right now already embedded in units.
01:47We have transgender troops in South Korea.
01:49We have them in Japan.
01:50We have them on aircraft carriers across the world.
01:53And when you remove those individuals for their identity, you remove their talents and
01:59their specialized skills, who's going to replace them?
02:03Department of Defense data shows the military has about 1.3 million active duty personnel.
02:09While transgender rights advocates say there are as many as 15,000 transgender service
02:13members, officials say the number is in the low thousands.
02:17Schilling said SPARTA membership had grown 10 percent since the election to 2,200 members,
02:23many of them senior enlisted members.
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