How One Trump Tweet Changed These Service Members' Lives
Imagine getting a promotion only to find out shortly after you may just lose your job entirely.
That’s what happened to the subjects of “TransMilitary,” a documentary following four trans military service members.
“Everyone was doing great. Then this [Trump] tweet happened, and now all their lives are back in jeopardy once again,” Fiona Dawson, co-director of the film, told Cheddar.
Last July President Donald Trump shocked the world when he [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890193981585444864)[ that](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890196164313833472)[ trans](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890197095151546369) people would be banned from serving in the military, citing concerns over associated medical costs.
But a federal judge ended up blocking the administration’s proposal in November, putting back in place an Obama-era policy that allowed transgender service members to serve and enlist openly.
There are currently more than 15,000 trans individuals serving in the military, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality. Dawson said that these numbers make the U.S. military the largest transgender employer.
“So that tweet [was] good and bad,” she said. It “gave us the chance to have this conversation.”
TransMilitary debuted over the weekend at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Tex.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/exploring-the-lives-of-trans-service-members-in-transmilitary).
Students, lawmakers and religious leaders have joined forces at a temple in Philadelphia to strongly denounce antisemitism on college campuses and in their communities, one day after University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned amid criticism over her testimony at a congressional hearing.
The former New York City mayor has already been found liable in the defamation lawsuit brought by Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who endured threats and harassment after they became the target of a conspiracy theory spread by Trump and his allies.
Donald Trump says he's decided against testifying for a second time at his New York civil fraud trial. In a social media post Sunday, the former president said he “very successfully & conclusively” testified last month and saw no need to appear again.
The president of Harvard University has apologized for her remarks at a congressional hearing on antisemitism, saying she got caught up in a heated exchange and failed to properly denounce threats of violence against Jewish students.
The House Education and Workforce Committee opened an investigation into MIT, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University after an anti-Semitism hearing on Tuesday.
