Pentagon Ends Ban On Openly Transgender Service Members

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The Pentagon announced transgender service members can now serve openly in the U.S. military on Thursday.

A Sacramento Army reserve captain who served as both genders says the move strengthens our military.

"I realize, 'Oh my God, I'm killing myself trying to prove how much of a man I am," said Sage Fox.

That's when she made a decision.

"I legally and physically transitioned," she said.

BUt her time off from the reserves eventually ended and that life-altering decision cost her a career.

"Two weeks later, I get orders to transfer to inactive status," she said.

She was kicked out not for what she did, but for who she was. Transgender service members were the only people in the military who faced that threat until Thursday.

Estimates put the number of transgender servicemembers between 4,000 and 11,000 out of a 2 million person force.

Now back in the ranks, Fox says her transition has made her a better officer.

"Transition has allowed me to be better as a leader," she said. "I've gotten rid of the distraction of worrying about concealing who I really was."

Fox had to rely on private insurance to cover her surgery, but from now on, the military will cover the cost of sex change operations approved by a doctor. Once a servicemember switches gender, they'll also change which barracks, bathrooms and showers they use.

Critics call this another example of the administration putting politics over policy.