A Trans Man Waited Years to Fulfill Dream of Enlisting in Navy. An 'Unnecessary' Trump Ban Could Kick Him Out (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Paulo Batista, a Navy petty officer second class.Photo:Courtesy of Paulo Batista

Courtesy of Paulo Batista

Paulo Batista had already completed his gender transition when, at age 38, he finally achieved his years-long dream to successfully enlist in the U.S. military.

“These kids could be our next president, they could be the next general, and now we’re losing that opportunity because of this,” says Batista. “To me it’s bigotry, and unnecessary.”

Paulo Batista poses with fellow service members.Courtesy of Paulo Batista

Such a ban — which Trump pushed in his first term, before PresidentJoe Bidenreversed it — is once again closer to reality, after Defense SecretaryPete Hegsethdirected senior Pentagon leaders last week to “immediately” pause enlistment of what Hegseth termed “individuals with a history of gender dysphoria.”

Hegseth’smemo, dated Feb. 7 and made public on Monday, Feb. 10, does not expel anyone who is already serving. But it cites Trump’s order, which states: “Expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”

Hegseth also sought further guidance from an undersecretary to decide whether those who have “a current diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria" can continue serving. And it pauses “all unscheduled, scheduled or planned medical procedures associated with affirming or facilitating a gender transition for service members.”

“Efforts to split our troops along lines of identity weaken our force and make us vulnerable,” Hegseth wrote. “Such efforts must not be tolerated or accommodated.”

Says Batista, a board member of the nonprofitsSPARTA PrideandTransFamily Support Services: “It does not justify why preventing transgender enlistments is necessary. We are deployable as soon as we finish bootcamp. We meet all requirements and physical standards.”

The halt on transgender recruits is taking place against the backdrop of astruggling recruitment market overall, according to the Department of Defense.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Capitol Hill.Allison Robbert/The Washington Post/Getty

Allison Robbert/The Washington Post/Getty

Batista is among “thousands” of trans troops already serving, according to SPARTA, an advocacy group for trans service members. Two LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, Lambda Legal and Human Rights Campaign,have filed suitto challenge Trump’s order on behalf of six active-duty service members and a transgender person hoping to enlist.

Trump’s opposition on trans issues was a durable and long-running campaign theme. His stance affecting the military aligns with two other executive orders issued in his first weeks back in office: one recognizing only two genders, male and female, and the other seeking to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports.

But for Batista, the back-and-forth policies of five White House administrations, including this one, have been a constant throughout his military aspirations and career.

Protesters take to the streets of New York City in July 2017 after President Donald Trump’s first transgender service ban.Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty

Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty

A softball and soccer scholarship — awarded to Batista as a female — paved the way to college. There Batista encountered a support group for LGBTQ youth, and a first transgender peer.

“I didn’t even know there was such a thing as being transgender,” says Batista. “Once I found that out, I definitely understood why I was so different.”

“My parents never pushed gender conformities on me,” he says. “They let me be me.”

When his father, a first-generation Portuguese immigrant, was diagnosed with cancer, Batista put his ambitions — including military service — on hold to help with care-taking.

“I tried to bring it up to him that I felt I was trans,” says Batista. “He told me, ‘Listen, I don’t know if I even know what that means. I don’t want to talk about it. Forget it, it’s not important.’ ”

“Did he know I was trans? Yes he did. Did he accept me for being that? Yes, all the time,” Batista adds. “In fact he would call me ‘the son I never had.’ ”

Paulo Batista.Courtesy of Paulo Batista

After his dad died in 2008, Batista reconsidered what he needed for himself to be happy. The next year he began his hormonal and surgical transition.

That created an opening for Batista to resurrect his military ambition. “Recruiters were more willing to talk,” he says.

First-term Trumpreinstated a banon transgender troops — although those already serving were allowed to continue. Then Biden lifted it, leading Trump to once again move to reverse his predecessor.

For Batista, the shifting policies also meant shifting requirements to produce medical records prior to his enlistment, which drew out the process for nearly six years. When he finally signed the paperwork and learned he would ship out in October 2022, “I was in tears,” he says.

“I fought for six years against people telling me, basically, I wasn’t capable or good enough to enlist,” he says. “To have six years’ telling myself, ‘I know nothing’s wrong with me,’ and have other individuals who had the issue of accepting me finally sitting down and signing the paperwork — that was everything to me. And now the people who have followed me, they see it too, and know that they can serve as well.”

Paulo Batista smiles in uniform.Courtesy of Paulo Batista

Batista takes particular issue with the focus in Hegseth’s memo on medical treatments for transgender service members.

“Unfortunately there’s a stigma that trans people are only enlisting to have surgeries, or that we don’t meet the standards and requirements, and this is all not true,” he says.

“As an individual who enlisted post-transition, I had to file letters from my medical team stating specific wording to have in my record that my transition was complete; [that] all surgeries, if any were needed, were complete; and that I could stop or switch my medication to an alternative method if needed for mission readiness.”

In a followup email, Batista adds: “Trans medical care doesn’t prevent you from deploying or being fully capable and ready. If there is a procedure, it’s scheduled during downtime, and that troop is ready to go within four to six weeks.”

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His commanding leadership is “most supportive, because they recognize me for my hard work as a major asset to the Navy,” says Batista, a petty officer 2nd Class stationed in San Diego. “I want them to know they have this resource, that trans people can enlist, that we are deployable, that we do meet the standards, and we are the readiness that many people think we aren’t.”

“We want to serve,” he says.

source: people.com