Photo of Pete Hegseth with a headline from The Advocate overlayed: "Pete Hegseth's Pentagon has started kicking trans troops out of the military, DOJ says"
Countless trans people have already been forced out of the military because of Trump’s trans military ban. Attempting to kick out those remaining is a gross politicization of our military.
The New York Times: "Justices to Hear Case on Catholic Preschools That Reject Children of Gay Parents. Catholic preschools in Colorado that decline to enroll families with L.G.B.T.Q. children or parents sued to participate in a state-funded program." Read more at the link in our bio.
SCOTUS announced it will decide if preschools in Colorado that discriminate against children because of their parent's sexual orientation or gender identity are entitled to receive public funds.
The Justices must protect the rights of these families and reject discrimination.
Lesbian Visibility Week. Congressional Equality Caucus logo.
As we kick off #LVW26, we celebrate the lesbian community & the importance of visibility.
Our caucus is proud to be led by every out lesbian woman in the House. Together, we're fighting to protect the lesbian community's right to live authentically & visibly.
National Transgender HIV Testing Day. Find private HIV testing, prevention, and care services at locator.HIV.gov.
Yesterday was National Trans HIV Testing Day. #NTHTD
Knowing your status & getting tested protects yourself & your community from HIV.
Find private testing, prevention, & care services at locator.HIV.gov!
Advocate: "Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon has started kicking trans troops out of the military, DOJ says." Read more at the link in our bio.
Trump's trans military ban has already forced countless trans troops out of the military. Now, DOD has confirmed they've begun involuntary separation processes against those who remain.
These servicemembers are fit to serve—but Trump is kicking them out for political reasons.
Montana Supreme Court upholds right of trans Montanans to accurate IDs. Read more at the link in our bio.
This week, the Montana Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling blocking a policy that barred trans Montanans from accessing accurate IDs.
Accurate IDs help trans people live openly & safely. We're glad Montanans will be able to obtain accurate IDs at this case proceeds.
Some troops are determined to stay and fight. Sgt. Clara Davis was a military police officer who supervised patrol shifts and led investigations at the Army’s Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. She had been deployed to South Korea and Bahrain. She thought it would be easy to make a case to the Army that she deserved to stay. In February, she was one of the first soldiers to challenge her removal before a review board. It turned out to be pointless, Sergeant Davis said. The board would not allow her to appear unless she dressed in a male uniform and cut her hair short. She refused. For the next six hours, she sat in another room, trying to listen to her own hearing through a bad phone connection. She was not allowed to speak.
MP Sergeant Clara Davis was among the first trans servicemembers to challenge her removal before a review board.
She wasn’t even allowed to speak at her own hearing because the board demanded she wear a man’s uniform and cut her hair.
(7/7)
As other troops wait to be discharged, their names often still occupy job positions on personnel lists, meaning their units can’t replace them and must operate short-handed. “It’s such a waste; it’s so frustrating,” said Sabrina Bruce, who as a master sergeant in the Space Force led a team near Washington, D.C., that protects classified satellites from cyberattacks. “There was no one to backfill me. I was just gone. And they couldn’t get a replacement for months because I was still on the books.”
Space Force Master Sergeant Sabrina Bruce was forced to leave her cybersecurity team because of Trumps’ trans military ban. Her team couldn’t find a replacement for her for months.
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Alyxandra Demetrides was a Blackhawk helicopter pilot deployed in Thailand when the ban took effect. She was abruptly sent home. In the year since, she has flown nearly every day, but not for the Army. She used her G.I. Bill tuition benefits to train as a commercial airline pilot. On March 1, she was discharged. A year of paid leave and separation pay added up to more than $300,000, she said. “That’s a lot to pay someone to not do their job,” she said. “They say this policy was about fairness and efficiency, but it seems pretty clear that it’s not.”
Pilot Alyxandra Demetrides said it best about the real costs of this ban: “They say this policy was about fairness and efficiency, but it seems pretty clear that it’s not.”
(5/7)
Julia Becraft, an Army sergeant first class, had been deployed to Afghanistan three times and awarded the Bronze Star. She was slated to lead a platoon when she was told to stay away from her battalion at Fort Hood, Texas. She was put on paid leave, where she remains. “It makes you lose faith in the whole system,” she said in an interview. “All I ever wanted to be is a soldier. I used to be proud of it. Now I don’t know if I could ever bring myself to put on the uniform again.”
Bronze Star recipient Julia Becraft only ever wanted to be a solider. Her bravery and service over three tours in Afghanistan helped secure a safer future for America.
Trump is still trying to force her out of the military.
(4/7)
Navy Chief Petty Officer Parker Moore supervised about 80 sailors who ran the nuclear reactor on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. Last year, the Lincoln was preparing to deploy when Chief Moore was put on leave. The rear admiral in charge of the carrier ordered the chief back to the ship, saying in a memo, “Your technical expertise, deckplate leadership, professionalism, loyalty and character are necessary for day-to-day operations.” The Navy eventually pulled the chief from the job anyway. The Lincoln deployed from San Diego in November. Chief Moore was discharged in December.
Chief Petty Officer Parker Moore supervised the nuclear reactor crew aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. Although the rear admiral in charge of the carrier said the chief was “necessary for day-to-day operations,” the Navy pulled Moore from the job anyways.
(3/7)
The Army paid for three years of law school at Harvard for Ryan Gunderman. In exchange, the Army expected the young captain to serve for six years as an Army lawyer. She had served less than two when she was put on leave. “They spent more than a half a million dollars on me, just in education,” the former captain said in an interview. “Can you think of another organization that would look at my credentials and say, ‘OK, let’s get rid of her’?”
The Army paid for 3 years of law school for Captain Ryan Gunderman with the expectation she would serve for six years as an Army lawyer. Instead, she was put on leave after 2 years and forced out because of Trump’s trans military ban.
(2/7)
“It is the biggest waste I’ve ever seen,” said Capt. Katie Benn, a decorated air defense officer who was has served in the Army for 13 years. “I’ve proven I’m good at my job. They just won’t let me do it.” The captain was scheduled to deploy to Iraq in June. She had broken her apartment lease near Fort Campbell, Ky., and packed her duffel bags when she was abruptly told by her commander that she couldn’t go because she was trans. Since then, she has been sitting at home. “I’m trained to take care of soldiers, and my soldiers are over there in harm’s way,” she said. “It kills me to not be there with them.”
Army Captain Katie Benn was trained to take care of soldiers. But because of Trump, she’s being kept from deploying while her soldiers are the ones in harms way.
(1/7)
New York Times: “For Many, Ban on Transgender Military Service Means Full Pay but No Work.” By Dave Philipps. Read the full New York Times story at the link in our bio.
Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military is forcing countless service members who are fit to serve out of the military, creating needless vacancies and wasting money.
These are some of their stories:
Nat'l Park Service agrees to fly Pride flag at Stonewall Monument again. Read more at the link in our bio.
GOOD NEWS! The National Park Service just agreed to resume flying the Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument after advocates sued over its removal.
This is about more than a piece of fabric: it's a victory for the visibility of our community and our collective history.
U.S. HIV infections could rise by 10% if CDC funding for HIV testing is ended. Read more at the link in our bio.
The Trump Administration is proposing $1.5 BILLION in HIV funding cuts, a direct threat to public health & safety.
Just ending funding for HIV testing is predicted to increase HIV infections by 10% in 18 states.
Our members will fight to prevent these cuts from becoming law.
Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness.
Almost 20% of people diagnosed with HIV in 2022 were ages 13-24.
Our members will continue to fight to protect critical HIV funding that protects young Americans—including by fighting back against Trump’s disastrous proposal to cut HIV funding by over $1 billion in FY27. #NYHAAD
Day of Silence. Stand with LGBTQI+ students.
Today, our members join students around the country in observing Glisten's #DayOfSilence to protest anti-LGBTQI+ harassment, discrimination, & violence in schools.
Every student should be free to learn in a safe, affirming environment—and that's exactly what we're fighting for.
Members of the Congressional Equality Caucus will fight to keep this devastating budget from becoming law.
Our members are going to fight every day to keep Trump’s devastating budget from becoming law.
Trump’s proposed budget asks Congress to codify the Expanded Global Gag Rule, including the trans global gag rule. If adopted, this would codify Trump’s ban on funding to organizations that provide foreign aid if that organization provides medically-necessary care to transgender people or advocate for nondiscrimination protections for the community.
Trump’s proposal also asks Congress to codify his ban on foreign assistance funds going to organizations that acknowledge trans peoples’ existence or advocates for nondiscrimination protections for the community.
Trump’s proposed budget cuts funding for hate crime prevention and federal response. This proposed budget would eliminate all funding for the Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service, whose mission is to prevent and address hate-based violence, and cut other hate crime prevention and response funding.
Under Trump, the DOJ has abandoned its mission of protecting the rights of minority communities. Trump’s budget calls for additional funding cuts to hate crime prevention grants and the Community Relations Service, whose mission is to prevent & address hate-based violence.
Trump’s proposed budget calls for Congress to ban federal funding for trans Americans’ medically-necessary medical care, including mental healthcare. Trans Americans’ access to medically-necessary care is already under attack, but Trump wants to make it even worse.
In this budget request, Trump is also asking Congress to explicitly ban federal funding for medically-necessary medical care for transgender people—including mental healthcare.
Trump’s proposed budget cuts more than a billion dollars in critical HIV funding. Trump wants to slash federal HIV funding to the bone, threatening our progress in the fight against HIV.
President Trump has already done immeasurable damage to our ability to fight HIV & AIDS. His proposed FY27 budget would make that damage even worse by cutting more than a BILLION dollars in critical HIV funding.
Trump’s proposed FY2027 budget will have devastating impacts on the LGBTQI+ community. Here are some key examples (arrow pointing right)
Trump's proposed FY27 budget would have devastating impacts on the LGBTQI+ community if enacted into law.
Here are some examples of how the proposed budget would impact LGBTQI+ people as it relates to HIV funding, medically-necessary care, hate crime prevention, & foreign aid:
In unprecedented move, Trump Administration terminates settlements replating to trans students' rights. Read more at the link in our bio. IMAGE: Sign reading "Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building"
In an unprecedented move, the Dept of Education terminated settlements relating to the rights of trans students at several schools across the country.
Our members believe every student deserves an education free from discrimination—but it's clear Donald Trump doesn't.
Pam Bondi leaves DOJ with a legacy of anti-LGBTQI+ extremism
Pam Bondi weaponized the DOJ to target the LGBTQI+ community's rights, including by reversing the Department's stance on LGBTQI+ civil rights protections, targeting transgender people for discrimination, and dismantling hate crime prevention efforts.
We're glad she's gone.
The Trump Administration is deliberately withholding funding appropriated by Congress to fight HIV & AIDS. Read more at the link in our bio.
The Trump Administration is deliberately withholding funds appropriated by Congress to fight the spread of HIV & AIDS.
Our members have consistently fought back against proposed cuts to this funding—and we'll keep fighting to ensure these funds are spent.
Associated Press: "Amsterdam celebrates 25 years since the world's first same-sex weddings." IMAGE: Two same-sex couples cutting a wedding cake.
This week, the world marked 25 years since the first legal same-sex marriages were celebrated.
We passed the #RespectForMarriageAct to protect marriage equality & will continue to fight back against GOP efforts to use gov't funding bills to discriminate against same-sex couples.
85% of Americans support equal rights for transgender people. Source: HRC/SSRS poll, February 2026. Read more at the link in our bio.
Graph measuring polling support for transgender equality. View at https://www.hrc.org/resources/trans-visibility
A new study found that 85% of Americans support equal rights & equal protections for the transgender community.
Equality is popular—and it's the right thing to fight for.
Our members will never stop fighting until equality for transgender people is the law of the land.
Report: 2 in 3 LGBTQI+ students feel unsafe at school. Read more at the link in our bio.
A new report found that 2 in 3 LGBTQI+ students in K-12 schools feel unsafe at school.
That’s unacceptable—but it doesn’t have to be this way. We must demand better for our nation’s young people.