Transgender Air Force Officer On Trump's Ban And His Supportive Fellow Troops

Late on Friday night, with President Trump's previous ban still tied up in the courts, the administrationannounced new restrictions on transgender troops serving in the military.

Transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria are disqualified from military service, except under limited circumstances.

Transgender persons who require or have undergone gender transition are disqualified from military service.

Transgender persons without a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria, who are otherwise qualified for service, may serve, like all other Service members, in their biological sex.

Defense Secretary James Mattis says transgender service members could "undermine readiness, disrupt unit cohesion and impose an unreasonable burden on the military."

"You can look at the data and see just the opposite is true," Lt. Col. Bryan (Bree) Fram told NPR's All Things Considered on Monday. Fram is an active-duty astronautical engineer in the Air Force, and is one of the thousands of transgender troops serving openly in the U.S. military — though he emphasized that his views were his own, and don't reflect those of the Air Force or Defense Department. Fram also serves as policy chair for Spart*a, an organization that represents active duty transgender service members.

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