Originally published in the San Antonio Current. Until Donald Trump tweeted out his plans to ban transgender troops from entering the military, Tech Sgt. Jamie Hash never felt unwelcome during her eight years in the U.S. Air Force. Indeed, when she informed her supervisor in June 2016 of her pending transition, the response was supportive…
UT Student Loses ROTC Scholarship as a Result of Trump’s Transgender Troop Ban
A trans student from San Antonio who attends the University of Texas at Austin has lost his three-year Army ROTC scholarship as a result of President Trump’s newly-instituted policy banning transgender people from serving in the military. UT freshman Map Pesqueira’s scholarship was voided by the Department of Defense on April 12, the day the…
At Re-enlistment, Trans Airman Says, “I Continue to Serve for Those Who Cannot”
A transgender airman stationed in San Antonio at Joint Base Randolph says she chose to re-enlist in the U.S. Air Force as a way to show that trans people can serve honorably in the armed forces. “I feel that it’s critical I continue to serve for those who cannot,” she told the San Antonio Express-News.…
Trans Texans’ Military Dreams on Hold Under Trump Administration
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. In January, Misty Brandon’s 24-year-old son sold his furniture and his truck and moved from San Antonio to Colorado with one goal in mind: To join the military in June. That’s because in June, the U.S. Department of Defense was going to officially let openly transgender people enroll…
Trump’s Military Ban Rattles Trans Troops, Veterans in Military City, USA
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. On Wednesday morning, San Antonio army veteran Danny Ingram got a worried call from a friend in the Air Force. “She had seen the news and was scared, suddenly it felt like her job was on the line,” said Ingram. The call came a few hours after President…
USAA to Co-Sponsor LGBT Military Gala in DC
San Antonio-based USAA ( United Services Automobile Association) will be a joint sponsor of the 4th Annual American Military Partner Association’s National Gala — the nation’s largest LGBT military event of the year — slated for May 13 in Washington DC. With more than 50,000 members and supporters, the AMPA is the nation’s largest non-profit…
Dad2: We’re in the Army Now
When my 11th-grader confessed one night at dinner that he was not ready for college and wanted to join the military instead, I was thrown. We hear those stories about the day we have to send our grown kids off into the world. With most of my friends, it is usually about…
Vet Erika Land pulls poetry from her PTSD
“I had to shut off my emotions. The only emotion was anger.” Erika Land’s memories of her deployment at a military hospital in Iraq include a military pilot’s brain fragments spilling out over her hands. She began obsessively washing them. She’s since recovered from that compulsion, but other symptoms of her PTSD are not as…
Trauma isn’t confined to the battlefield
In 2015, transgender military members risk administrative separation, meaning the person is forced out of the service, typically with no educational or retirement benefits. Love and change are not mutually exclusive terms. Unfortunately, fear creeps in when there is change. I love this country and tear up when the national anthem is played. Lately,…
How the military liberated one South Texas boy
Telling: San Antonio, October 1-5, 2014, Carlos Alvarez Theater, The Tobin Center Ticket info here. When he was a young man in Victoria, Texas, playwright, poet and critic Gregg Barrios joined the Air Force medical service, encouraged by uncles who had served in the military during the relatively peaceful years that followed World War II. U.S. involvement…