Some of our leaders don’t really care about all of those who serve our country.
The Trump administration is quietly moving forward with plans to involuntarily discharge more than 4,000 brave Americans — not because they can’t do the job, but because they’re transgender. They make some people uncomfortable.
In the past, I would have asked my father what he thought about this. Sadly, I can’t do that. He died in 2014 of cancer caused by exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam while fighting for this country.
It is an understatement to say that my father was a man of strong moral character. He was an immigrant from Norway who served honorably in the U.S. Air Force for 22 years. He rose to the rank of chief master sergeant — the highest rank possible for an enlisted airman — and was in discussion to become the chief master sergeant of the Air Force, the top enlisted person in the service.
I asked myself: What would Dad have done if, as the top enlisted airman, he had been ordered to discharge every transgender service member simply because someone who never wore the uniform deemed them “incompatible” with military service, irrespective of their records, accomplishments or objective merit? He was a military professional, trained to follow orders. So, I believe that’s what he would have done.
But he wouldn’t have done it quietly.
One of his favorite savings was, “If you don’t have the courage of your convictions, you had no convictions to start with.” I’ve been reflecting on how he would have demonstrated his abundant courage. He taught me to raise my voice.
Our government made a promise to our warriors: If you serve honorably, follow legal orders and protect this country, you will earn a retirement to help provide for your family. Stripping someone of their promised benefits after 10, 15 or even 17 years of faithful service without due process or regard for the quality of their performance isn’t just wrong. It’s a betrayal.
And my father would have understood that. Even if he didn’t fully understand — or, being honest, unreservedly support — transgender Americans serving in uniform, he believed in fairness, honor and the sanctity of a promise made.
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court, once a dependable check on political overreach, ruled that existing laws allow for a lifetime of honorable service to be obliterated with the stroke of a pen while a lawsuit proceeds. The ruling allows the president to declare a person “unfit for service” without evidence and regardless of their actual record or true qualifications. The decision is morally bankrupt. And it must be corrected.
No person, not even the president, should have unchecked authority to act so capriciously and vindictively. The responsibility now falls to Congress to pass legislation to constrain this official maliciousness. Doing so would impose some level of control, not to mention honor and humanity, on this and future administrations.
This is not just a policy disagreement. It is a crisis of integrity — one that strikes at the very heart of what we value as a nation. If our fellow citizens are willing to put their life on the line for this country, the least we can do is keep our promises to them.
We often say we support our troops. The reality is that today, we support only some of them.
America, we are better than this.
DeeJay Johannessen is CEO of the HELP Center for LGBTQ+ Health in Fort Worth, Texas. ©2025 The Fresno Bee. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.