![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/nicholas1.png.png\")
Talbott said the setbacks have stung, but he treats them as hurdles to overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven when the tweets came around I didn\u2019t see it as an absolute \u2018No,\u2019\u201d Talbott said. \u201cI knew another door was going to open, it was just a matter of time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since Trump\u2019s tweets this July, the administration has argued that accepting transgender recruits would put an undue burden on the military and said it would need to train 23,000 personnel at military entrance processing stations to examine transgender recruits. Former service secretaries and transgender advocates have refuted that claim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think that they [attorneys for Trump] are trying to make this a much bigger deal than it is,\u201d Talbott said. \u201cI think there is the very incorrect assumption that transgender people are so vastly different than regular gender people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While he waits, Talbott works out twice a day to meet the male fitness standards on the physical exam and studies for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, a test that will identify what military occupations his skill set qualifies him for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talbott wants to be in security forces or work in military intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCounter-terrorism is absolutely my passion and what I want to spend my life doing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even if this court ruling opens the way for Talbott to enlist after Jan. 1, 2018, there\u2019s still ongoing litigation on the overall right of transgender personnel to serve. That litigation is expected to continue through the spring, and has the potential to affect his military career even after enlistment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If he got a chance to talk to Trump, Talbott said he\u2019d try to show him that he would serve just like every other service member. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I could speak to President Trump, I would just tell him to please look at the information out there,\u201d Talbott said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSpeak to troops,\u201d Talbott said, not only active duty, but veterans, too. \u201cBecause they [transgender veterans] are out there. Your gender and your gender identity do not affect your ability to serve your country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nicolas Talbott, 24, is one of several plaintiffs fighting for the chance to serve in the military.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":90852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,62,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3342],"class_list":["post-68302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"PK3ZJIODBFB7XN4MU5LRB53NTQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2017\/12\/19\/this-young-man-is-transgender-and-ready-to-enlist-january-1\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n