Transgender service members navigate Trump’s military ban transcript

Welcome back everyone. For our prime focus tonight, we have the unique opportunity to meet a transgender service member affected by President Trump's executive order that banned such people from serving in the military. Our Maggie Roelly sits down with Hunter Marquez, a recent graduate of the Air Force Academy, who began their transition at the end of freshman year, satisfying all requirements since President Biden repealed Trump's first transgender ban.

But now in 2025, Hunter finds they're in limbo. They and many others prevented once again from serving their country. >> Class of 2025, dismiss. [Applause] >> Hunter Marquez had been dreaming of this moment since middle school. The moment they would graduate as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. >> I grew up with a family that just loved this country and I found my calling with the military. Hunter Taylor. >> After four years of training at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, Hunter was selected to become a combat systems officer.

But an executive order banning transgender service members would put that dream on hold >> because at the end um when we all got to throw our hats in the air and everyone got to put on their second lieutenant shoulder boards and I had to keep my cadet ones on because I would not be a second lieutenant. So, it was >> it was very disheartening um because I knew, you know, these >> all of my friends, all of the people I've known these past four years have a guaranteed job and now I'm just here with no idea what I'm going to do next. >> If you knew what you had to go through, would you still have made the choice to transition? >> 100%. >> Yes.

I wouldn't change anything about what I've done these past four years because at the end of the day, the these people that I've met here, um, the officers and the faculty, I they they've changed my life for the better. The Pentagon estimates more than 4,200 or about one in 500 active Guard and Reserve service members are diagnosed by military doctors with gender dysphoria, which is the military's metric for tracking the number of transgender troops.

Advocacy groups have put the actual number of trans service members in those units much higher at around 15,000 out of the 2.1 million. 3 months before Hunter was set to graduate, President Trump signed Executive Order 14183. >> To ensure that we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transgender ideology the hell out of our military. It's going to be gone. The executive order stated that expressing a false gender identity divergent from an individual's sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.

The order further argued that receiving gender affirming medical care is one of the conditions that is physically and mentally incompatible with active duty. That meant Hunter, who had transitioned a few years ago, could no longer go into military service when they graduated. Hunter's dream now caught up in a political firestorm. What assessment did the Department of Defense conduct prior to implementation to evaluate the impact that this policy would have on our national security? >> We did extensive analysis uh Senator and we agree with the assessment of the executive order that was issued by the White House that uh there are mental health issues associated with gender dysphoria that complicate military service and readiness.

And as a result, we made the decision. >> Trans people have a history of contention in the military. Until 2016, people who were transgender could be dismissed because of their gender identity. President Obama changed that policy, allowing trans service members to openly serve. Trump repealed this policy in 2018, meaning once again trans soldiers were banned. Then President Biden repealed this in 2021. Trump then reinstated the ban this year.

There's never been any evidence found that gay or transgender service members present any problems to unit cohesion or readiness. Um, and the the evidence finds the opposite that the prohibitions against trans people are what harm readiness and cohesion because they undermine trust. Are there already checks and balances with in place within the military to make sure people are mentally and physically well to serve? >> Yeah, that's an important point.

The military screens their personnel at all levels, you know, upon uh session or commission, you know, recruitment um and then for retention purposes, deployment to to combat zones. >> Hunter began transitioning at the end of their freshman year at the Air Force Academy. They would now have to complete the more demanding male physical fitness test. >> And did you pass everything? All the physical exams, all the tests, everything. >> Yes.

Yes, I did. I remember talking to my commander about it because I was I was nervous, but I got a better score than I expected. And I remember going to his office and I was like, "Sir, you wouldn't guess what happened. This is my score." And, you know, he celebrated with me. Hunter tells us they followed all the rules that were in effect at the time in order to graduate, only to have those rules change in February when the Department of Defense released a memo stating that they would begin discharging trans service members. >> Do you remember the moment you found out?

Yeah, I was actually I was in my room hanging out with a friend and I was looking at the like the the court cases that had been coming down and um it I refreshed the page and the the official memo was posted and I just I broke down crying because I >> I couldn't believe that I made it up to this point just to lose it. >> Almost immediately there were legal challenges. In March, a federal court blocked the ban. Then in May, the Supreme Court overruled and said the ban could remain in place while lawsuits made their way through the lower courts.

Hunter signed their name onto one of those lawsuits. >> I just saw that as my only option because I and thousands of others deserve the right to serve in the military. There's nothing that says we can't perform our duties, that, you know, we're less than just because of our gender identity. And I like I I didn't want this to be happening to anybody else. And so it was it just felt like my only option. Like I I had to fight this, not for myself, but for the thousand of thousands of others and for the thousands to come.

Supporters of the ban say the logistics of incorporating trans service members in a safe and effective way will be too difficult and expensive and their medical care will make them unfit to serve. What type of medical care does the military provide in general and and for other people that have medical issues? >> Well, the military has a storied health care system of its own. The Rand Corporation did a study on this and found that it would be just a smattering of people um who are likely to use the more expensive health care um required and that the overall um impact on the military's health care budget would be an increase of onetenth of 1% of the military healthcare budget. >> For Hunter, the debate has curtailed their once certain future.

A normal postgrad trip around Europe has turned into a soularching moment. But I'm curious, you know, I think if someone says, "Well, we just don't want someone to go public with their preferred gender identity. Can't they just serve without making it a deal?" Uh, what would you say to that? >> I would say the reason why you lead is because of the people. >> And you know, that's that's something we say a lot in the military.

You know, mission first, people always. And how can you be expected to lead a mission if you don't know your people? >> Although their dream is deferred, they tell us their calling is still with the military. >> And after the recent Supreme Court decision, where does that dream stand? >> I I still want to do it. If, you know, if a decision came down today that, you know, I could join the Air Force, I would take that in a heartbeat.

I'd drop everything here in Europe and go. Um, but I mean in the end the dream is always to be in the military. A dream deferred at least for now. Or thanks to Maggie for