Serving your country for well over a decade should earn you a secure retirement, no matter your politics. I'm asking the Secretary of the Air Force to reinstate the retirement orders issued to 17 transgender Air Force and Space Force members, and to honor the pensions and healthcare that come with them.

After the administration moved last year to bar transgender people from the military, the Air Force offered some affected service members with 15 to 18 years in uniform the chance to apply for early retirement. In June 2025, 17 of them received official orders with real retirement dates. They made plans. Then in August, the Air Force took those orders back.

One of them is Master Sergeant Logan Ireland, who served more than 15 years, including a tour in Afghanistan. His retirement date was set for December 1, 2025. "I felt solid," he told The Advocate, "and then betrayed."

These service members are now suing. Their lawsuit argues that Air Force rules only allow issued retirement orders to be pulled back in narrow cases, like fraud or error, and that no such reason has been given. At a September hearing, a federal judge pressed the government on this, and its lawyer acknowledged the reversal came with no explanation of how it met that rule. The judge kept the case in court, but that ruling doesn't give anyone their retirement back. Meanwhile, three of the plaintiffs were recently told that proceedings to discharge them had begun, according to their attorney, Michael Haley of GLAD Law.

You don't have to agree on the service ban to agree on this: when the military approves a retirement, it should keep its word. Pensions and healthcare aren't favors. They're earned.

Sign the petition to tell the Air Force to restore these retirements now, before more of these service members are forced out without the benefits they were promised.