California bill aims to help discharged transgender soldiers

from Kate WolffCalMatters

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US Navy Seaman Chase Humes returns to his father’s house in Texas.

Last month, the 25-year-old was notified that his “voluntary retirement” from the Navy, which he applied for in May 2025, had been approved — he would be released from duty. He and his wife are scheduled to leave their military home in San Diego by mid-July.

Humes, a transgender man who has been taking testosterone for the past seven years, was among them at least 1,000 military personnel who chose to leave on their own terms rather than face forced separation after the military Ban from February 2025 of transgender military personnel. By opting for a voluntary separation, he was approved for an “honorable discharge,” which retains access to benefits like Veterans Affairs health care that others worry they may not have access to

Humes is one of about 4,200 transgender service members Estimates of the Department of Defense have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and could be subject to the policy. Advocates say the transgender military population can exceed 15,000according to a 2014 UCLA study.

A new bill for California, Assembly Bill 1775 is intended to help people who are unsure that Humes will be honorably discharged and are worried about their future prospects if they are forced out of the military. Supporters say the bill is from a San Diego Democratic Assembly member Chris Wardcan help people who are less than decently fired for hiding their transgender identity by helping them regain access to services.

Meanwhile, servicemen like Humes study their next move. The sailor and his wife are looking for work near his father’s house outside of Houston. They cannot afford to start their lives in San Diego, although they fall in love with the pleasant atmosphere of the city.

“The whole reason I joined was a better future for me and my family, but it was just torn apart,” Humes said of the split.

More than a year in the dark

Among the stack of executive orders issued by President Donald Trump early in his second term was this one Prioritizing military achievements and the order of readiness.

He reversed President Joe Biden’s policy allowing transgender people to serve openly in the forces and said gender dysphoria and the use of pronouns other than biological sex were inconsistent with the country’s “high standards of troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity and integrity.”

What followed the January 27, 2025 order was a series of legal challenges, some of which are still ongoing. Last month, a federal appeals court ruled that Trump’s ban on transgender people in the military was valid possibly unconstitutionalallowing a group of 28 plaintiffs from across the country to continue serving while their case continues.

Transgender soldiers were faced last spring with the choice of either voluntarily leaving the military, and in some cases receiving separation pay, or saying nothing and hoping they won’t be found out and “involuntarily separated” from the force.

Kat Koelmos, who was on active duty for eight years and is now on inactive status as an Army Reserve, said the military chain of command did not know she was transgender.

“Anyone can use my testimony today to report me to the Army Reserves here and they will be required to take action to force my release from the US Army,” she said told the MPs during a hearing on the legislation last month.

Koehlmoos is a board member of SPARTA Pride, which advocates for transgender service members and co-sponsored the legislation. She said the bill comes in part because supporters are concerned the federal government could replicate actions taken during its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which allowed gay, lesbian and bisexual troops to serve if they hid their sexual orientation. About 2,000 soldiers were discharged less than honorably in connection with the policy and were stripped of some veterans’ benefits, in a class action which was settled in 2025.

Koehlmoos said the group expects some people who are “involuntarily separated” under the 2025 transgender ban to be penalized by the Defense Department for not complying with the law.

“They can bring other charges: accuse them of falsifying records or lying on federal documents and try to get them fired less than fairly because of it,” she said, although SPARTA Pride is not aware of any such cases to date.

If that happens in California, Ward’s bill would help those people qualify for expedited occupational licensing in civilian careers such as contracting and nursing and give them priority for discharge upgrades as well as housing and support services.

Ward said he believes benefits should be provided to all service members, whether they leave voluntarily or involuntarily.

“They served honorably and this was a separation that was involuntary, and they would have earned the full benefits they would have otherwise been entitled to if they were cisgender,” he said.

Unknown number affected

It’s unclear how many people could be affected by the legislation. Ward has repeatedly told fellow lawmakers that 2,900 of the federal government’s estimated 4,200 transgender troopers — 69 percent — are either from California or currently stationed in California. In an emailed statement in response to a question from CalMatters, Ward said the numbers were mistaken after conversations with veterans’ advocates, and he will no longer use them to describe the number of California service members affected.

The bill would also require the state Department of Veterans Affairs to create a new Veterans Housing and Support Services grant, which Ward said would fill a gap in existing housing support for veterans experiencing imminent homelessness. But on the budget Governor Gavin Newsom signed Monday does not include funding for this program.

Instead, it directs $2 million to the state’s existing Veterans Upgrade Grant Program, which provides legal assistance to veterans fighting to upgrade their discharges.

As Humes prepares to leave San Diego, Ward’s bill is still pending in Sacramento. The legislation has cleared policy committees in both chambers and awaits a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Koehlmoos said the moment is stressful for most transgender soldiers — those on voluntary discharge who have few options; the people who have not notified the chain of command, who may be living in fear; and service members who will delay their transition or never transition because of the federal government’s ban on transgender troops.

“It’s heartbreaking to me because it really puts your life on hold,” she said.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.