Interview: Trump’s ban of transgender service members a ‘grave disappointment’

Jennifer Long, transgender Army veteran, speaks to the impact

Briana Vannozzi, Anchor | January 28, 2025 | Politics, Law & Public Safety

President Donald Trump Monday signed four more executive orders to reshape the U.S. military, including banning transgender service members from enlisting and serving openly in the armed forces.

NJ Spotlight News spoke with Jennifer Long, a transgender Army veteran from New Jersey, about the order and its consequences.

The order — titled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” — reinstates a policy from the president’s first term and repeals one under former President Joe Biden that allowed trans people to enlist and receive insurance coverage for transition-related medical care. The U.S. Department of Defense now has 60 days to update its military medical standards.

But it’s unclear how quickly transgender service members could be ejected.

“It’s a little bit of horror and a grave disappointment,” said Long. “The impact that this has on service members across the United States military.”

Long said she was forced to retire from the military in 2012 as she transitioned. “It’s not a good story and it’s not going to have a good ending, and it has a deep ripple effect across our society,” she said.