U.S. Air Force cadet who graduated with flying colours isn't allowed
to serve their country
Sheena Goodyear
| CBC Radio | Posted: June 5, 2025 10:21 PM | Last Updated:
June 6
3 U.S. Air Force Academy graduates denied commission under
Trump's transgender military ban
Image | Hunter Marquez
Caption: Hunter Marquez, right, graduates Class of 2025 at the
U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. Despite
completing their training and meeting all the physical
requirements for service, Marquez has been denied a military
commission under the U.S. president's transgender military ban.
(Submitted by Hunter Marquez)
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Media Audio | As It Happens : This U.S. Air Force cadet who
graduated with flying colours isn't allowed to serve their
country
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Serving in the U.S. military felt like a calling for Hunter
Marquez.
The 22-year-old cadet has spent the last four years training at
the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.,
culminating in an emotional graduation ceremony last week,
surrounded by friends and families.
With degrees in aeronautical engineering and applied
mathematics, Marquez expected to be commissioned as a second
lieutenant and as a combat systems officer.
Instead, they've been barred from service and placed on
administrative leave under the U.S. President Donald Trump's
transgender military ban, along with two of their fellow
graduates.
"I grew up loving this country … so I thought this was the best
thing that I could do with my life, was giving back," Marquez
told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. "Being transgender does not
define my ability to serve."
Regardless, being transgender does define their eligibility to
serve, according to the U.S. Air Force.
"Service members and applicants for military service who have a
current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent
with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the requirements
of military service and are no longer eligible," an Air Force
spokesperson told CBC in an email.
Gender dysphoria is a diagnostic term sometimes used to
describe the distress someone feels when their gender identity
is at odds with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Support from teachers, classmates and alumni
Shortly after taking office, Trump issued an executive order
barring transgender people from serving in the military.
Several legal challenges to the policy are making their way
through the courts, including a lawsuit in which Marquez is a
plaintiff. But, in May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Trump
administration can enforce its ban while those cases proceed.
Days later, U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth — a former Fox
News host who has referred to transgender women as "dudes in
dresses" — issued a deadline: Transgender service members have
until June 6 to identify themselves and begin the process of
"voluntary separation" from the military.
Anyone who doesn't comply, he said, will be found and kicked
out.
That court ruling and subsequent deadline upended Marquez's
future.
"I used to have a guaranteed job. You know, I was riding on
that for four years. Now I don't," Marquez said. "Now I have to
move back home and figure out what my next step will be."
Image | Hunter Marquez
Caption: Marquez, far right, says graduation was joyful day,
despite everything. (Submitted by Hunter Marquez)
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Marquez says their teachers and classmates have been
supportive. What's more, more than 1,000 U.S. military academy
graduates have signed an open letter in support of trans and
non-binary cadets.
"We firmly believe that the simple fact of being transgender is
in no way incompatible with any of our Academies' cherished
virtues and values," it reads. "Rather, we understand that
living authentically as a trans person, especially at our
Academies, is often a profound expression of them."
Scrolling through the long list of signatures brought tears or
Marquez's eyes.
"Some of those names I did recognize. I had been best friends
with them, or I had played sports with them. They were in my
squadron, or I just knew them in the class," they said. "So it
really meant a lot."
Trump says trans troops not 'fit for duty'
Trump's order states that transgender officers are not
"mentally and physically fit for duty." Marquez takes issue
with that assertion.
"I met all the standards when I was serving under a female
gender marker. And then when I transitioned to the male gender
marker, I still met all of the standards," Marquez said.
"There wasn't anything I was lacking on. There wasn't anything
I fell short of. I got academic distinction from the Academy.
So, on paper, you know, there's nothing that says that being
transgender makes me less than."
WATCH | Trump's anti-trans policies based on misinformation,
says advocate:
Media | On The Coast : How Trump's policies on transgender
people are affecting them
Caption: Louis Stay, a transgender man and executive director
of Trans Spokane, says U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping
executive orders will restrict transgender people's ability to
travel and serve in the military. Stay says the orders are
based on misinformation about transgender people.
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For now, Marquez is still a cadet with full benefits. They and
their fellow trans graduates have been placed on administrative
leave. That could change with Hegseth's June 6 deadline rapidly
approaching.
A memo from military brass stated that cadets who don't leave
the military voluntarily before the deadline "may" have to pay
back the cost of their education, which, in Maquez's case, adds
up to roughly $400,000 US.
The U.S. Air Force told CBC that graduates who choose voluntary
separation "will not be subject to monetary repayment."
Marquez, however, doesn't intend to leave willingly. They said
they have been assured they won't have to pay back their
tuition, either way. The Air Force has not confirmed this to
CBC.
"I believe that what is happening is unfair and I want to stay
in the Air Force for as long as possible," Marquez said. "The
Air force is going to have to be the one to kick me out."
* 'We deserve a lot better,' U.S. Navy Lt. says as Trump
ramps up transgender military purge
* Organizer of transgender history conference in Canada says
U.S. participants now afraid to cross the border
When and if that happens, Marquez is planning to go back to
school to get a graduate degree.
They are also a plaintiff in Talbott v. United States, one of
several legal challenges against the transgender military ban.
"I am putting my trust in the American justice system and
hoping for the best, but I also want to stay realistic,"
Marquez said. "We're going to keep fighting until the end."
Corrections:
* An earlier version of this article stated that U.S. Defence
Secretary Pete Hegseth made a derogatory comment about
transgender men in the U.S. military. In fact, the remarks
in question were directed at transgender women. June 6,
2025 2:43 PM
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