Army Captain Jennifer Peace will be a guest of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) at tonight’s State of the Union address. Capt. Peace, an active-duty officer, was profiled in the documentary Transmilitary and is the parent of three children whom she is raising with her spouse Deborah.
Other transgender military personnel in attendance at the State of the Union will include:
- Army Major Ian Brown, also a guest of Speaker Pelosi;
- Air Force Staff Sgt. Logan Ireland, a guest of Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), chair of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee;
- Navy Petty Officer Second Class Megan Winters, a guest of Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D-VA), a member of the House Armed Services Committee;
- Navy veteran Tavion Dignard, a guest of Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH); and
- Navy Lt. Cmdr. Blake Dremann, a guest of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
Let’s review: Kicking transgender people out of the military will harm operational readiness and weaken our country’s defenses. For those who are parents, it will harm their children by cutting off an important source of income, health insurance, and many other benefits for their families.
Capt. Peace is the only one of the above State of the Union guests who is a parent, to the best of my knowledge, although NBC News says of Lt. Cmdr. Dremann, “He’s also a dad to Lucas, a 7-year-old Chihuahua/dachshund mix.” Serving in the military while raising children increases the difficulty of both. Long deployments, frequent moves, and often dangerous and worrisome missions can add stresses and logistical challenges that most families never encounter. That’s not to say it can’t be done or that there aren’t joys and benefits for the servicemember and their spouses and children alike. I’m proud to be friends and relatives with several military families that are thriving. I’m especially impressed by Capt. Peace and the other military parents who are also grappling with the awful insult and uncertainty of President Trump’s ban on transgender military service. They shouldn’t have to deal with that, however. Our country should be applauding them, not abandoning them. I’ll be applauding them tonight and I hope many others will as well.
