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upworthy

patritotism

Retired Army veteran Laila Ireland isn't about to let President Trump kick trans people out of the military without putting up a fight.

Ireland, a trans woman herself, took the stage at GLAAD's San Francisco Gala to give a speech rejecting the administration's plans to ban people like her from serving openly in the military. While she's retired, her husband, Air Force Staff Sgt. Logan Ireland, is still on active duty.

Ireland's speech took aim at Trump's unfounded claim that letting trans people serve in the military is some sort of burdensome expense (the estimated total cost of providing health care for trans service members is between $2.4 and $8.4 million per year, or roughly one-fifth of what the military already spends on Viagra), and highlighted a number of the key roles that trans service members are currently filling. To remove these patriotic Americans from their posts and to deny trans people the same right as everyone else to serve their country is not only harmful for the trans community, but for the military and country as a whole.

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