Trans Military
An ongoing, long-term project about transgender people in the military: those serving now and those pushed out. It begins in the United States, where a 2025 executive order barred transgender people from service.
Sgt. Mason Benavides served with the Army’s Defense Chemical Response Force, a unit trained to respond to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks. After President Trump’s 2025 executive order barred transgender troops, he was forced out. He now studies chemistry and works as a lab technician and lifeguard in Denver.
Kara Corcoran served nearly 18 years as a U.S. Army infantry officer and deployed twice to Afghanistan. In May 2025 she graduated from the Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies. Two months later, the Army flagged her for involuntary separation. “I would still rather be over there dodging drones and ballistic missiles than sitting right here in Colorado waiting for something to happen,” she said.
Hunter Marquez spent four years at the U.S. Air Force Academy preparing to become a combat systems officer. He graduated in May 2025 with degrees in aeronautical engineering and applied mathematics, and he met the Air Force’s fitness standards for men. His classmates were commissioned as second lieutenants. He was not, because he is transgender. He is now a graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder.
