Laila Ireland comes from a long line of military service. Her father, grandfather and great-grandfather are all veterans.
The retired Army veteran from Hawaiʻi is married to a master sergeant in the Air Force. Both she and her husband are transgender.
Her husband, Logan, is a lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit seeking to block an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in February that disqualifies trans people from military service.
The Supreme Court decided last week that the administration's ban can go into effect, even as multiple legal challenges make their way through the courts.
"Watching my husband, a service member, a man who has given so much of himself to this country, to his country, sit in the unbearable silence of an uncertain future has been one of the hardest, gut-wrenching experiences in my own life," she said. "The uniform that once gave him purpose becomes like a painful reminder of the fight he's being forced to leave behind."
She added that both she and her partner have been involved with the military for a long time, and it has become part of their everyday routine.
"Having to wake up daily and watch him get ready for work, knowing at any given time they can say you're done, with no actual evidence of him not being able to perform or being fit or worthy of his position... that's really tough to watch as a spouse," Ireland told HPR.
Ireland said that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010" not only prompted her transition journey but also her journey in advocacy for trans people in the military. She now works with SPARTA, a nonprofit group that advocates for gay and trans rights in the military.
The 2010 law repealed a U.S. military policy enacted in 1993 that allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to serve in the armed forces if they kept their sexual orientation a secret.
"There are thousands of service members right now, currently serving, some of them abroad in austere environments that are feeling the heat of feeling unworthy and feeling like they have no way forward, having to make decisions to survive amidst an administration that does not recognize their service," she said.
Ireland shared that the local community has been supportive of open trans service. She emphasized seeing transgender service members "as equals and not as the enemy."
"What greater proof of patriotism is there than willingly placing one's life in line for a country that too often fails to see our humanity... They stand shoulder to shoulder with their fellow service members to defend all those freedoms that we get to enjoy every day and those freedoms that, paradoxically, some would deny them," Ireland said.
This interview aired on The Conversation on May 13, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Tori DeJournett adapted this story for the web.
