One of the military’s highest ranking transgender officials is speaking out after being placed on administrative leave as part of the Trump administration’s ban on trans troops.
Colonel Bree Fram, who came out as transgender in 2016 when the initial ban on trans troops was lifted, was an astronautical engineer in the US Space Force and was the Pentagon’s division chief for requirements integration.
She posted to Instagram Friday saying ‘I have been officially placed on administrative leave, effective tomorrow, pending separation’ after the Supreme Court ruled the ban could go ahead.
Fram – whose profile picture on the social media app is an LGBT rainbow version of the Space Force logo – defiantly spoke of sobbing as she pinned medals on three of ‘my folks’ in her last official act in service.
‘The last salute broke my heart in two and the tears flowed freely even as I have so much to be thankful for and so many amazing memories.’
Fram detailed the day she came out in 2016, telling a story of how her teammates responded to the announcement by shaking her hand and, one by one, saying: ‘It’s an honor to serve with you.’
She also spoke about a similar experience last week, when she announced at a joint staff meeting that she was leaving and that she no longer met ‘the current standard for military excellence and readiness.’
‘A room full of senior leaders, admirals and generals, walked over to me and the scene from 2016 repeated. They offered those same words, now tinged with the sadness of past tense: ‘It’s been an honor to serve with you’,’ she said.
She added that she walked away with tears in her eyes because Fram felt that it had been her honor all along.
‘It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve this nation and defend the freedoms and opportunities we have as Americans. My wildest dreams came true wearing this uniform.’
In the past six months, Fram had been posting photos of her fellow transgender troops on Instagram listing their accomplishment with the tagline: ‘Happens to Be Trans.’
Fram told Stars and Stripes that, most recently, her work had been focused on ‘defining the future capabilities that we’re going to need to win wars far into the future.’
She added that her Instagram post was an attempt to speak on behalf of her fellow transgender soldiers.
‘It is almost a duty and an obligation to speak on their behalf because it is my privilege to do so and to hopefully represent transgender service members well that do not have the privilege that comes along with the rank and the experience that I do,’ she said.
‘If I don’t speak for them and they are unable to speak for themselves, who will speak for them?’
In early May, the Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump‘s ban on troops with gender dysphoria can stand.
The Supreme Court’s ruling lifts a lower court’s decision to pause Trump’s policy, which the administration called ‘dramatic and facially unfair.’
The order allows the Department of Defense to continue removing transgender service members from the military and denying enlistment while lawsuits continue in the lower courts..
On January 20, President Trump signed an executive order ordering Hegseth to enact a ban on ‘individuals with gender dysphoria’ serving in the U.S. military.
District Judge Benjamin Settle in Washington state ruled that the ban violated the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and barred the government from enforcing Trump’s policy.
The Trump administration appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit but it was rejected, prompting them to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the ruling was ‘contrary to military readiness and the Nation’s interests.’
The liberal justices – Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson – would have decided against Trump, they indicated in the filing, but the Supreme Court ruling was not signed.
The ruling was an emergency appeal prompting an unusually swift ruling from the Supreme Court justices, although they can rule on the merits of the case at a later date.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt celebrated the news in a statement.
‘Another MASSIVE victory in the Supreme Court!’ she wrote. ‘President Trump and Secretary Pete Hegseth are restoring a military that is focused on readiness and lethality – not DEI or woke gender ideology.’
The ban enacted by the Department of Defense on February 26 detailed that ‘the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service.’
The level challenge to the order was filed by Commander Emily Shilling, together with six other current transgender service members and one transgender person who wants to join the military.
Schilling appeared at the LGBT Community Center dinner on April 10 to be honored for the legal fight against the president and his administration.
‘I swore an oath to support and defend the onstitution,’ Schilling said. ‘That oath requires obedience to lawful orders. But when an order undermines the very principles I swore to uphold, I have the responsibility to challenge it.’
Shortly after he was inaugurated in 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order overturning Trump’s initial ban on service of transgender individuals in the military.
After Trump was inaugurated he ordered the ban to be reinstated.
Trump and Hegseth view the extra care required for transgender service members to be a distraction to military readiness.
In February, Hegseth ordered a pause on gender-transitioning medical procedures for active duty service members.
‘Effective immediately, all new accessions for individuals with a history of gender dysphoria are paused, and all unscheduled, scheduled, or planned medical procedures associated with affirming or facilitating a gender transition for Service members are paused,’ his memo said.