Veterans Legal Clinic and OUTLaw Partner to Provide Outreach and Support for Trans-Service Members in the Military
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The Veterans Legal Clinic at UIC Law has partnered with student organization, OUTLaw to provide support to transgender people serving in the military who have started to receive involuntary separation papers due to a new policy enforced under the Trump administration.
Earlier this year, a Department of Defense (DOD) policy was created prohibiting transgender people, or “anyone who either has gender dysphoria or has undergone medical interventions to treat gender dysphoria” from serving in the U.S. military, according to the executive order. This ban comes four years after then-President Joe Biden signed an executive order that allowed transgender troops to openly serve in the military in 2021.
“Over the last decade, the Veterans Clinic has worked with veterans to upgrade their discharges and ensure that their paperwork reflects their service,” said Yelena Duterte, director of the Veterans Clinic and assistant professor at UIC Law. “A bad discharge can follow a veteran for the rest of their lives, impacting access to healthcare, compensation for their injuries like PTSD or TBI, and education benefits.”
The Veterans Clinic has begun to work with military defense counsel to determine their need for outside support for trans-service members, as well as considering how to support ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) cadets who don’t have access to legal counsel in that same way.
UIC Law student and OUTLaw Vice President Dee Patterson has been chosen to spearhead this outreach, providing a breakdown of “who, what, when, and how” to effected parties. While the project primarily focuses on those receiving involuntary separation papers from the military, Patterson has also been working with organizations who are providing legal counsel to those who are voluntarily leaving and gaining knowledge and exposure to this area of law.
Additionally, Patterson is leading the charge on making information more accessible and digestible for community members, including providing up-to-date information to the ROTC and finding ways to reach service members who may not understand the convoluted language laid out in the DOD memorandums. In some instances, separation papers are being sent with only 24 hours to sign or face consequences.
“We have seen the impact of past policies, like Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, on veterans seeking care from VA and the decades-long stigma related to those discharges. When veterans lack guidance, competent counsel, and resources, the outcomes can be far worse,” Professor Duterte said.
Though Patterson does not act as an active attorney, she helps the community stay informed by breaking down legalese in literature and training with volunteer attorneys in such organizations as the Trans Representation Project to help people find strategies to fight back and resist the attack on transgender people.
Patterson credits courses and professors at UIC Law for preparing her to do this work.
“Legal research was really an invaluable class for me,” Patterson said. “I started off knowing nothing about military law, but now I understand it better and how it works; plus being connected to professors who have being doing advocacy work for a long time.”
“It is important for us to help mitigate the harm done to trans-servicemembers today, so that they do not have to fight later for recognition of their service,” Professor Duterte concluded.