Ever since Valerie Swift opted to voluntarily leave the Navy under the Trump administration's ban on transgender service members, she's encountered several roadblocks.
The 26-year-old first class petty officer says she still hasn't received a termination date from the Navy, and she's unsure if she should keep showing up for work as normal. And her questions over how and when to file a claim to receive benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs continue to go unanswered.
"The biggest thing for me is health care," said Swift, who has been receiving gender affirming care for years. "I have not gotten a single solid answer."
Swift isn't alone. Many service members remain uncertain about how President Donald Trump's executive order, "Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness," which deemed transgender service members unfit for military service, is being implemented since it was enacted in January.
In the hopes of finding clarity, Swift attended a workshop at the LGBT Community Center in Hillcrest on Monday designed to guide transgender and nonbinary service members through their separation and life after the service.
The workshop was organized by The Center and the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet), a state agency that helps connect veterans and their families to their earned benefits.
CalVet's California Transition Assistance Program is offered to all people exiting the military, but this workshop was the agency's first one specifically for transgender and LGBTQ+ veterans and their allies.
"Our position has always been, when it comes to connection to various services in the community: we're here," said Roberto Herrera, the deputy secretary for veteran services at CalVet. "It's the significance of the action that makes it paramount to have something more specialized."
The Trump administration told transgender troops that they could voluntarily leave the service with an honorable discharge and additional separation pay, or wait to be forced to leave, with unclear repercussions.
A federal court in March temporarily blocked Trump's policy. But in May the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the ban to take effect while legal challenges proceed.
"Expressing a false 'gender identity' divergent from an individual's sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service," the executive order read.
It's unclear how many transgender people are actively serving. The U.S. Department of Defense estimates there are about 4,240 people with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria -- around 0.2% of the 2 million service members.
Not all transgender people have experienced gender dysphoria, and not all people with such a diagnosis are transgender. But the diagnosis is the military's best way of tracking the numbers of transgender people serving.
Active duty troops had until June 6 to voluntarily separate, and National Guard and reserve members had until July 7.
But service members who are forced to leave under the policy are still entitled to most VA benefits.
Monday's event at The Center included panel discussions with representatives from local and state groups, focusing on how veterans can file claims to receive benefits from the VA and obtain legal resources -- as well as take care of their mental health and find support in their civilian life.
After military service, "you're left to figure out the pieces" and navigate a loss of identity, Pamuela Halliwell, the director of behavioral health services at The Center, said during a panel discussion.
Halliwell was kicked out of the Navy under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in 2007 for being transgender -- a discharge that stripped her of the right to receive benefits under the VA.
About 30 people attended the workshop, including service members, veterans and advocates. State and local organizations had booths set up to offer participants support, including assistance with processing insurance claims.
The workshop was a stand-alone event, but The Center and CalVet say they hope to continue the partnership and are looking at holding future workshops.
Kora Delta, an Air Force veteran who voluntarily separated from the service this month, said she would like to see consistent workshops like Monday's and would recommend that the workshop be recorded for people who can't attend in person.
In March, Delta was put on administrative leave from the Air Force and hasn't been working since, which has given her more time to research benefits for her life after the service.
But other service members may not have that time, she says, and will need community support to help point them in the right direction.
"It's a headache; it's a whole new thing," she said, also noting that she expects a significant number of service members to be separating from the military in the coming months. "There's gonna be a lot of people transitioning, and they're going to need those resources."
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