>>> BEFORE AND AFTER. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HOW YOU
LOOKED AND WHAT YOU WORE, WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVED AT BOOT CAMP.
AND THEN THEY GAVE YOU A UNIFORM, AND THEN A HAIR CUT.
THAT DISTANCE FROM YOU ON DAY ONE, STANDING IN YOUR VERY FIRST
REAL MILITARY LINES, AT THE MOMENT WEEKS LATER WHEN THEY
MARKED YOUR TRANSFORMATION FROM RECRUIT OFF THE STREET TO U.S.
MARINE. BEFORE AND AFTER TRANSFORMATION.
INSIDE AND OUT. PART OF JOINING THE MILITARY.
OUR NEXT GUEST IS U.S. MILITARY VETERAN WHO WENT THROUGH THREE
DISTINCT TRANSFORMATIONS IN HIS MILITARY CAREER, SEAN ORTEGA
BECAME A U.S. MARINE AND THEN HE BECAME A U.S. ARMY SOLDIER,
WHILE ON ACTIVE DUTY WITH TOURS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, STAFF
SERGEANT SHANE ORTEGA CAME OUT AS TRANSGENDER.
SERGEANT ORTEGA LEFT ACTIVE DUTY A YEAR AGO IN JULY 2016 WHICH
HAPPENED TO BE ONE MONTH AFTER PRESIDENT OBAMA LIFTED THE BAN
ON TRANSGENDER PEOPLE SERVING OPENLY IN THE MILITARY.
HAS JUST SOWED CHAOS. THE OLD POLICY THAT SAYS YOU CAN
SERVE OPENLY IN THE MILITARY, THAT'S STILL UP ON THE
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE WEBSITE RIGHT NOW.
THE PRESIDENT ANNOUNCED ON TWITTER THERE WILL BE NO MORE
TRANSGENDER SERVICE MEMBERS, EVEN AS THOUSANDS OF THEM
CURRENTLY SERVE IN THE ARMED FORCES.
THIS IS CHAOS FOR ALL OF US TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF IT
TONIGHT. FROM HAVING BEEN IN THE MIDDLE
OF IT, I CAN'T IMAGINE HOW IT FEELS.
SERGEANT ORTEGA, THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US TONIGHT.
APPRECIATE YOUR TIME. >> THANK YOU, RACHEL FOR
INVITING ME. I APPRECIATE YOU CARING ABOUT
THIS VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE. >> I DO CARE ABOUT IT.
AND I'M ABSOLUTELY FLUMMOXED AS TO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN HERE,
WHAT THE PRESIDENT EXPECTS IS GOING TO HAPPEN HERE.
LET ME JUST GET YOUR TOP LINE REACTION, HOW YOU HEARD ABOUT
THIS TODAY AND HOW YOU FELT ABOUT THE NEWS.
>> TO BE QUITE FRANK, IT WAS GUT-WRENCHING.
IT FEELS LIKE THE PRESIDENT DOESN'T APPRECIATE ANY OF MY
PERSONAL SERVICE OR DEDICATION TO THIS COUNTRY, AND TO OUR
PEOPLE. I RECEIVED A PHONE CALL FROM AN
ACTIVELY ACTING TRANSGENDER SERVICE MEMBER ABOUT 5:00 A.M.
THIS MORNING PACIFIC TIME. >> YOUR FRIEND WHO CONTACTED
YOU, ANY OTHER TRANSGENDER SERVICE MEMBERS HE'S SPOKEN TO
TODAY, CAN YOU TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT THEIR REACTIONS?
>> I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO TO RE BACK TO EVERY SINGLE CALL, BUT
RIGHT NOW I HAVE OVER 90 DIFFERENT PHONE CALLS FROM
OPENLY SERVING TRANSGENDER SERVICE MEMBERS WHO ARE
INCREDIBLY CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS NOT ONLY FOR THEIR
SERVICE CAREERS IN THE MILITARY, BUT THEY'RE ALSO HIGHLY
CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE UNITED STATES CITIZENS,
WHEN SOMEBODY STARTS ATTACKING PEOPLE WITH THIS SORT OF
DISCRIMINATORY AND BIGOTED POLICIES.
>> DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE -- OBVIOUSLY, AS A POLICY MATTER,
WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT THE PRESIDENT DID TODAY.
HE MADE THIS PROCLAMATION. HE DOESN'T APPEAR TO HAVE
FOLLOWED IT UP WITH ANY OTHER SORT OF FORMAL ORDER.
CLEARLY THE PENTAGON HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA THIS WAS
COMING. CERTAINLY HAD DONE NO
PREPARATION FOR IT. IT'S THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THE
KIND OF PROCESS THAT WE SAW IN TERMS OF THE OBAMA
ADMINISTRATION, FOR EXAMPLE, GETTING RID OF "DON'T ASK, DON'T
TELL" AND LIFTING THE BAN ON OPENLY TRANSGENDER PEOPLE
SERVING. BECAUSE OF THAT, JUST AS A
POLICY OBSERVER, IT'S HARD TO TELL.
IF THE MILITARY DID DECIDE TO TAKE THIS AS AN ORDER, AND TRY
TO IMPLEMENT THIS POLICY, DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE OF HOW THEY WOULD
DO IT, OR HOW THEY COULD DO IT IF THEY WANTED TO?
>> WELL, AS A RETIRED STAFF SERGEANT, I HAVE TO THINK ABOUT
MY EXPERIENCE AS A MID-LEVEL SUPERVISOR.
THIS WOULD HAVE TO BE SOMETHING THAT CAME DOWN FROM THE
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ITSELF. THEY WOULD HAVE TO WRITE A
FORMAL POLICY THAT WOULD THEREFORE THEN BE HANDED TO THE
HEADQUARTER DEPARTMENTS OF EACH OF THE BRANCHES OF SERVICE TO
INTERPRET THE POLICY AND THEN IMPLEMENT -- BEGIN AN
IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD. YOU CAN'T JUST DO THESE IDLE
THREATS, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT DONALD TRUMP IS DOING RIGHT NOW,
USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO IMPLEMENT POLICY.
IT IS NOT IN AN OFFICIAL CAPACITY, BUT IT WOULD HAVE TO
BE AN OFFICIAL POLICY THAT'S CONCISE, GIVEN TO THE
HEADQUARTER DEPARTMENTS TO BE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTED.
>> DO YOU THINK THAT WILL HAPPEN?
YOU'VE BEEN A KEEN OBSERVER HOW THE POLICIES HAVE CHANGED OVER
THE YEARS THUS FAR. >> NOT TO BE MOCK A VEIL YAN,
BUT I'M NOT SURPRISED BY THE ACTION TAKEN BY DONALD TRUMP.
I SENT OUT A TWEET ON JULY 13th ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR POTENTIAL
THAT WAS HAPPENING, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW, DONALD TRUMP IS
LASHING OUT AT ANY CAPACITY THAT HE CAN TO BRING ATTENTION TO
HIMSELF, AND TO DETRACT FROM HIS BASICALLY INCOMPETENCE IN OFFICE
RIGHT NOW. AND I THINK THAT -- I'M SORRY,
CAN YOU REPEAT THAT ONE MORE TIME?
>> WHAT DO YOU THINK'S GOING TO HAPPEN HERE?
>> I THINK WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN HERE IS THERE'S GOING TO
BE A LOT OF PANIC. WHAT WE COULD CALL THIS IS WHAT
I CALL A FIRE CELL OF PEOPLE, WHERE EVERYONE IS RUSHING TO THE
DOOR, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY THE PLAN OF ACTION, TO
NOT ONLY PROTECT THE SERVICE MEMBERS, BUT ALSO THE PLAN OF
ACTION TO PROTECT THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE COHESION
OF THE MILITARY AS AN ESTABLISHMENT.
>> SHANE ORTEGA, RETIRED MILITARY STAFF SERG, NOW AN
ACTIVIST WORKING FOR LGBT EQUALITY IN THE MILITARY.
I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME TONIGHT. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE YOU'RE IN
TOUCH WITH SO MANY ACTIVE DUTY TRANSGENDER MEMBERS WHO ARE
TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO TONIGHT.
I WOULD LOVE IT IF YOU WOULD STAY IN TOUCH WITH OUR STAFF
OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. >> ABSOLUTELY.
IT'S SO IMPORTANT. I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU GIVING
ME THIS TIME. IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THE
AMERICAN PUBLIC TO GET INVOLVED WITH THE POLICY THAT IS
HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. >> THANKS, SEAN, I APPRECIATE
YOUR TIME.