Meet Shane Ortega, The First Openly Trans Soldier On Active Duty
Sgt. Shane Ortega has the unique perspective of serving two military tours of duty—one as a woman, and one as a man.
Ortega, 28, is a a helicopter crew chief in the Army’s 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, and the first out trans man on active duty—even though the Army's computers still consider him female.
Last summer, after tests revealed elevated testosterone levels, Ortega was barred from his flight duties and relegated to administrative tasks.
Military regulations still consider being transgender a mental illness—and grounds for being declared unfit to serve. Ortega still risks being discharged, though he's been able to stave that off with help from a legal advocacy group.
“Administratively I shouldn’t exist,” Ortega tells the Washington Post. “But I do exist, so that’s still the problem.”
It's a problem that may slowly find a solution: Both President Obama and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter have indicated they support open service for trans men and women.
“I don’t think anything but their suitability for service should preclude them,” said Carter at a press conference.
After the ACLU filed a petition on behalf of Ortega and other trans soldiers, the Army recently placed their futures in the hands of a civilian appointee, assistant Secretary of the Army Debra S. Wada, and unofficially put discharges on hold.
But don't celebrate just yet.
“Although the Army appears to have temporarily halted the process of kicking trans people out, the policy still declares that they are unfit,” said ACLU attorney Joshua Block. “That puts service members and their commanders in an untenable situation. It’s the policy itself that’s interfering with the military’s ability to do the job, not service members like Shane.”
Ortega, for one, is ready to fight for his right to serve. “One thing my father always said was, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world,’” he said. “I definitely wanted to be that change.”
h/t: Washington Post, Photos: Facebook
