Transgender Air Force members sue over canceled early retirement and benefits

Seventeen transgender Air Force members are suing the Trump administration for allegedly denying them early retirement benefits, according to new court filings submitted Monday.

The plaintiffs allege that the Air Force illegally rescinded their retirement orders after serving between 15 and 18 years in the service, according to the complaint filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C. The initial retirement orders were issued in June 2025 by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Gwen DeFilippi, but they were rescinded in August after she was replaced by Brian L. Scarlett, the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.

GLAD law is representing the plaintiffs, a law firm specializing in LGBT issues.

“The Air Force’s own retirement instruction—DAFI 36-3203—provides that retirement orders may only be rescinded under very limited circumstances, none of which were present here,” the plaintiffs argue in the filing. “This lawsuit seeks to reinstate Plaintiffs’ retirement orders, to restore the retirement status and associated benefits to which those orders entitled Plaintiffs, and to recover any damages that Plaintiffs accrue.”

The Air Force previously told NBC News that early retirement benefits required higher-level review under the Pentagon’s new gender dysphoria policy, and that the plaintiffs in question were “prematurely notified” of their approval for early retirement.

The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to go forward with the ban on transgender service members in May. There are an estimated 4,240 active duty service members with a gender dysphoria diagnosis across the armed forces, according to the New York Times.

The Pentagon deferred to the Air Force, which did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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