On Monday, President Joe Biden followed through on a campaign promise, signing an executive order to overturn President Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military.
“You can be straightforward. You can be who you are,” said Nancy Jones, relieved to heard about the policy shift.
Before settling in Tampa Bay, Jones retired from the Air Force in 1991, having received the meritorious service medal for having served honorably.
But during those 20 years Nancy Jones was known as Daniel Jones. A secret she says she was forced to keep under military policy at the time.
“I could not come out. It would’ve ended my career,” said Jones. “And I had to just, bury it, and learn how to present as a male.”
In 2016, the Obama administration made it legal for transgender military members to serve openly.
But in 2019, the Trump administration enacted a ban on Transgender enlistments.
Jones says she was pleased to hear the Biden administration had kept its campaign promise to reverse that order, embracing the standard that those fit, qualified and able to maintain military standards should be allowed to serve.
“We’re trained to work as a unit. To support each other,” said Jones. “The important thing is that you have their six and they have yours. And, that you know that if anything happens you can count on them.”
More than two dozen nations around the world, including Canada, Israel, and the UK allow transgender people to openly serve in the military.
In 2016 it was estimated about 9,000 active duty members of the US military identified as transgender.
Jones says it’s difficult to know how they’ve been impacted over the past two years.
“There were a lot who were worried about coming out after the ban went back into effect,” said Jones. “And those who were out were concerned that, well are they going to be hard on me, or are they going to try and force me out?”
The Trump administration argued that transgender troops in the military created disruption. But, a study performed by the Rand Corporation found a little or no impact on what they called “Unit cohesion, operational effectiveness, or readiness.“
Some commanders even noted that the policies had the benefit of creating a more inclusive and diverse force.
The Trump administration had also cited high medical costs amongst transgender members of the military as a reason for the ban, but Department of Defense data showed the amount was around $8 million - less than 1% of its $50 billion overall healthcare budget.
It’s unclear how many people who identify as transgender were kept from joining the military since 2019. And while Jones considered these latest developments a step in the right direction, she remains concerned this back-and-forth policy might have a permanent chilling effect on enlistments.
“If they can do something more permanent - that a stroke of a pen will not kick them out again or make them hide again - that would be ideal,” said Jones.