Marc Seawright took pride in his work at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), where he spent over eight years fighting workplace harassment and discrimination. But by June 2025, that sense of purpose had evaporated. “It became overwhelming. It felt insurmountable,” Seawright told The Associated Press, describing the hostile work environment that led to his resignation. The catalyst, he said, was a sweeping shift in federal policy under President Trump, whose administration has enacted measures that, according to advocates and affected workers, have upended the lives and careers of transgender federal employees and military personnel.
Seawright’s story is just one among many. Ten transgender and gender nonconforming government employees from across federal agencies spoke with The Associated Press, sharing their experiences of fear, grief, and frustration since Trump returned to office in January 2025. Many requested anonymity, worried that speaking out could invite retaliation. Their accounts paint a picture of a federal workforce where, as Brad Sears of UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute put it, “the federal workplace is increasingly an inhospitable place for the transgender employees who remain.”
Central to these changes is an executive order signed by President Trump that defines sex as strictly male or female. The order directs federal agencies to ensure that intimate spaces—such as restrooms—are designated by biological sex, not gender identity. The stated goal, according to the order, is to “protect spaces designated for women and girls.” Supporters, like Beth Parlato of Independent Women, argue that “women’s rights can get erased if men can just self-identify to women’s spaces.” But for transgender employees, the consequences have been profound.
Take Withrow, a 34-year-old federal employee in Illinois. Her job requires her to visit armories across the state, sometimes in remote areas. But after the executive order, she was told she could no longer use the women’s restroom at work. Without single-occupancy options available, even a simple bathroom break could mean a 45-minute round trip to a nearby gas station or fast food restaurant. “I don’t use men’s spaces because I don’t feel comfortable doing that,” she told AP. Represented by the ACLU, Withrow filed a class action complaint in May 2025, challenging the administration’s policy on the basis of sex discrimination. The Illinois National Guard declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said it is “committed to treating all of our employees with dignity and respect.”
The Department of Defense, which also declined to comment on specific cases, affirmed its intent to enforce relevant laws and implement the gender executive order. But the practical impact on transgender service members has been devastating. On September 3, 2025, NPR reported that the military is actively removing transgender troops from service by combing through medical records for gender dysphoria diagnoses. The deadline for compliance is December 1, 2025.
Master Sergeant Logan Ireland, a transgender Air Force member, has lived through both iterations of the ban. In 2017, during Trump’s first term, he obtained a gender dysphoria diagnosis as required to keep his job. “I did what the service asked me to do. It seemed kind of silly to me, but this was what the checklist was,” Ireland told NPR. He described himself simply: “I’m Logan. I happened to be, you know, born female. But I transitioned to male. And I’m just here living my life and doing my job.”
When President Biden repealed the ban in 2021, Ireland thought the issue was settled. But with Trump’s return, the rules changed. Now, the very diagnosis that once protected his career is being used to disqualify him from service. “It doesn’t seem real. It’s been a feeling of being kicked down, being betrayed,” Ireland said.
The new policy doesn’t just remove people from service—it also strips away their benefits. In August 2025, the Air Force announced it would deny early retirement benefits to transgender troops, offering only a lump-sum payment for voluntary separation, or nothing at all for those involuntarily separated. Priya Rashid, legal director at the National Institute of Military Justice, said, “Separation pay means that you’re being paid, and you don’t have to return it. What these people are actually getting is a zero-interest early loan on their disability and their accrued entitlements.” In other words, future medical costs and entitlements are being depleted up front, leaving veterans with less security as they age.
Legal experts have also raised alarm bells about due process. Under new Air Force rules, transgender airmen can no longer argue their cases before separation boards. If a member has a gender dysphoria diagnosis, the board must recommend separation. Recordings and court reporters are now banned from these proceedings, which Rashid says violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the constitutional rights of service members. “The rules are not going to apply to these people. They will not be given a fair trial. The outcome will be predetermined based on the diagnosis of gender dysphoria,” she told NPR.
Mick Wagoner, founder of the Veterans Legal Support Network, called the process unlawful and damaging. “You’ve got the unlawful command influence from the get-go, from the jump there, directing a person to be kicked out without any due process,” he said. Wagoner also warned that the policy undermines military readiness. “The quid pro quo promise of you serve, there’s some benefits on the end of that. And that’s just a fundamental breaking of that contract that the military has.” He added, “I think you’re just cutting your nose off to spite your face. You’ve got this expertise in so many fields.”
For civilian employees like Seawright, the changes have been just as personal. After Trump signed the executive order, Acting EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas quickly moved to reshape agency policy, including the removal of the “pronoun app” Seawright had spent two years developing. The app, designed to support nonbinary employees, was “just kind of yanked away summarily with none of the thoughtfulness and planning that went into implementing the tool … that became really frustrating,” Seawright said. His mental health suffered, leading to extended personal leave and, eventually, a formal discrimination complaint and resignation. He cited “significant distress, anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, anger, and sadness” caused daily by what he described as “anti-transgender actions.”
Despite the mounting challenges, some transgender federal employees remain determined to serve. Withrow, still in her role, said, “I do feel as though there is at least an implied threat for trans folks in federal service. We’ll just continue to meet the objectives and focus on the mission, and hope that that is enough proof that we belong.”
As of September 4, 2025, both the White House and the EEOC have declined to respond to allegations that the administration’s policies have created a hostile work environment for transgender federal employees. Meanwhile, advocacy groups and legal experts continue to challenge the evolving landscape, warning that the consequences—for individuals and for federal institutions—are only just beginning to unfold.
For those caught in the crosshairs, the struggle is ongoing, marked by resilience, uncertainty, and the hope that dignity and fairness will one day prevail in the nation’s highest offices and its armed forces.
