'I am a patriot': Transgender NJ veteran speaks out on Trump military ban
During her 30-year Army career, Sgt. Maj. Jennifer Marie Long of Kearny was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
She was posted at the Holland Tunnel the day after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
She even served alongside now-Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Now Long, a transgender woman, is being told she would be unfit to serve.
Last week, the Trump Administration issued an executive order that attempts to ban transgender people from serving in the military. The order states that "expressing a false 'gender identity' divergent from an individual's sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service."
The move is already facing legal challenges.
“The issue of whether we negatively impact readiness has more than once been proven false; the draw to service and patriotism are the underlying reasons for nearly all who enlist,” Long said.
Garden State Equality has condemned the order, calling it disciminatory.
"In repeating this egregious action from his first term, (President Donald) Trump is once again seeking to deprive our courageous servicemembers from the national respect and gratitude they have earned through their sacrifices," GSE said in a press release.
The New Jersey LGBTQ+ advocacy group further says that unlike the similar move Trump made during his first administration, his move this month has no "pretense" about being about readiness, unit cohesion or healthcare costs.
"This ban, instead, argues the very fact of being transgender 'conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life' and that it 'is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member,'" GSE said in the news release.
NPR says that an estimated 15,000 military personnel are transgender, based on a survey of active duty miliary personnel and an estimate of those in the reserves and National Guard.
Long says that "all who entered military service did so of their own free will; they raised their hand and gave an oath to defend our country. They swore to live by a code of honor, a foundation from which this nation was built upon. Their gender identity does not contradict that. I am a patriot, I am a transgender veteran, and I believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has spoken about the order, saying “serving our country is a brave and selfless commitment. Any American willing to risk their life to defend our nation should be given the opportunity to do so, regardless of how they identify."
Sen. Cory Booker called the ban "an affront to our fundamental American values — of equality, and the right to live a life free of discrimination.” “We should be grateful to every person who is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country and I will stand with transgender servicemembers against this hateful ban."
Booker says the action makes America less safe by denying qualified individuals from serving.
Separately, federal employees at multiple departments on Friday were told to remove personal pronouns from their email signatures, part of Trump's executive order not to promote gender ideology.
lana Keller is an award-winning journalist and lifelong New Jersey resident who loves Broadway and really bad puns. Reach out on Twitter: @ilanakeller; ikeller@gannettnj.com