Laila Ireland
Laila Ireland | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hawaii, U.S. |
| Spouse | Logan Ireland |
| Occupation | activist medic |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
Years of service | 2003–2015 |
| Rank | Corporal |
Laila Ireland (née Villanueva) is an American LGBTQ activist and retired United States Army medic. She was featured in the 2018 documentary film TransMilitary.
Early life and family
[edit]Ireland was born into a military family in Hawaii.[1] She is from Kapolei, Hawaii, and is of Native Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, and Chamorro descent.[1] Her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather are all veterans.[2]
Career
[edit]Ireland enlisted in the United States Army in 2003 as a human intelligence collector.[1] She returned to the United States from her first deployment in 2005 and trained as a health care management and administration technician.[1] She served in the Army for twelve years, completing two deployments to Iraq.[1] Her last post was at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii.[3] She was honorably discharged and medically retired from the Army in 2015, having started her gender transition while still serving in uniform.[1] At that time, the U.S. Department of Defense classified transgender identity as a disqualifying medical condition under its medical fitness standards, listing "psychosexual conditions", including "transsexualism", as grounds for administrative separation.[4][5] Ireland's retirement was the last publicly-known discharge under this policy.[6] Villanueva had served in the Army for over a decade and began her gender transition while still in uniform. Despite receiving support from her chain of command, she was ultimately separated under the medical regulations in place at the time.[7]
In 2012, Ireland began working with SPARTA and Outserve Trans, two nonprofit organizations that support transgender military personnel and recruits, leading inclusivity trainings.[1][8] In 2025, Ireland participated in Lambda Legal's "All Rise" campaign.[9] In 2018, she served as SPARTA's membershop director.[3] Ireland is also on the board for the transgender advocacy nonprofit organization Point of Pride.[3]
Personal life
[edit]Ireland is a trans woman.[10] She married Logan Ireland, a trans man and retired US Air Force master sergeant, in 2016.[11] In 2015, she then-fiancé were featured in the Emmy-nominated New York Times documentary short film Transgender, at War and in Love.[12] In 2018, they were featured in the documentary film TransMilitary.[1]
In 2017, she was named Military Spouse of the Year on Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.[3]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Transgender, at War and in Love | Herself | Documentary film |
| 2018 | TransMilitary | Herself | Documentary film |
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Anderson-Minshall, Diane (March 20, 2019). "Trump's Trans Military Ban Is No Match for Their Love". The Advocate. Retrieved September 10, 2026.
- ↑ Bender, Maddie (May 13, 2025). "Trump's ban on transgender troops has this military couple fearful for the future". Hawaii Public Radio. Retrieved September 10, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Sharpe, Sam (April 6, 2018). "Army veteran Laila Ireland to discuss being transgender in the military". K-State Today. Manhattan, Kansas: Kansas State University. Retrieved September 10, 2026.
- ↑ Department of Defense Instruction 6130.03, "Medical Standards for Appointment, Enlistment, or Induction in the Military Services", May 6, 2010 (incorporating Change 1, Sept. 13, 2011).
- ↑ Wax-Thibodeaux, Michelle (July 13, 2015). "Pentagon to lift ban on transgender service members". The Washington Post.
- ↑ Myers, Meghann (March 2, 2018). "Transgender troops worry about their future as military policy hangs in limbo". Military Times.
- ↑ "TransMilitary: Portraits of Transgender Troops". OutServe-SLDN. 2016.
- ↑ Boice, MJ. "Laila Ireland, Transgender Spouse of the Year, Chats With Ellen". Military Spouse. Retrieved September 10, 2026.
- ↑ Geslani, Lake (May 28, 2026). ""Serving Openly and Proudly": A Trans Veteran on Visibility and Belonging". Lambda Legal. Retrieved September 10, 2026.
- ↑ Thompson, Tiffy (December 4, 2018). "TransMilitary's Laila Ireland on Being Trans in the Military & The Fight for the Right To Exist". She Does The City. Retrieved September 10, 2026.
- ↑ Roschke, Ryan (November 10, 2018). "How 1 Transgender Military Veteran Stays Hopeful, Even on the Darkest Days". PopSugar. Retrieved September 10, 2026.
- ↑ "Laila Ireland: Trans in the Miltary". UIS Connection. 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2026.
- Living people
- 21st-century American LGBTQ people
- 21st-century United States Army personnel
- American LGBTQ military personnel
- American military personnel discharged for being transgender
- American military personnel of Native Hawaiian descent
- American people of Chamorro descent
- American transgender women
- Civil rights activists from Hawaii
- Female United States Army personnel
- LGBTQ American activists
- LGBTQ people from Hawaii
- Native Hawaiian activists
- Native Hawaiian LGBTQ people
- People from Hawaii of Puerto Rican descent
- People from Honolulu County, Hawaii
- Puerto Rican transgender people
- Transgender military personnel
- United States Army medics
- United States Army non-commissioned officers