We are aghast at the lack of respect with which a subset of veterans are being treated at the hands of the U.S. Air Force, as reported by the Associated Press and published in Friday’s edition of The Express on page A2.

To spare you the searching, here’s the lede for that story: “The U.S. Air Force said Thursday it would deny all transgender service members who have served between 15 and 18 years the option to retire early and would instead separate them without retirement benefits.”

Folks, despite what a vocal subsection of our Facebook commenters choose to believe, we don’t talk much about LGBTQ issues, aside from usually a brief spike in coverage during June. We try to keep our readers up to date on what’s going on when a particularly major story breaks, but in general, it’s not something we spend a lot of time on.

This is especially true for transgender issues, both because the population of trans people is so small (estimated around 0.6% of the U.S. population over the age of 13, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA); and because “the trans debate,” much like “the Jewish question” before it, is highly divisive and, we would argue, corrosive to civilized conversation.

With that in mind, we would like to state that, regardless of your opinions on trans people and the various murky topics that surround them — featuring such complex issues as whether a person is entitled to equality — all of us should be able to agree that veterans who dedicate years of their lives to serving our country should be treated with respect.

This includes receiving their benefits, such as retirement, which they have tirelessly worked towards regardless of the political climate in the U.S., which administration was in office, and so forth.

Consider one such case, quoted in the AP story:

“Logan Ireland, a master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force who has 15 years of service, including a deployment to Afghanistan, is one of the airmen impacted by the policy. ‘I feel betrayed and devastated by the news,’ he said.

Ireland said he was told that his retirement was being denied on Wednesday when his chain of command, ‘with tears in their eyes,’ told him the news.”

What are we doing, here?

You can disagree with Ireland’s lifestyle — with who he goes to bed as or with, if you feel strongly. But this person served our country — Democrats, Republicans and everyone in between alike — for 15 years, including a deployment to Afghanistan.

The Supreme Court, in May, allowed the Trump administration to move forward with banning and removing trans people from serving in the military. While in general we hold the view that anyone who wishes to serve should be allowed to, we don’t begrudge the administration the ability to shape the armed forces as they feel appropriate.

However, treating these veterans, who HAVE served, with this level of disrespect is a black mark indeed.

Consider how you might feel if it were women veterans, instead. Or — perhaps even more historically relevant — Black veterans. While neither of those groups may be on the menu in the year of our lord 2025, we wouldn’t be surprised if lesbian, gay and bisexual veterans are next in line, and soon.

Perhaps you’re fine with that, dear reader. But for us, all veterans who serve are deserving of our respect and support, and we don’t believe that should be a controversial stance.

This isn’t a matter of liking someone or agreeing with them. This is a matter of understanding that if someone is prepared to lay down their life for you, the least you can do is honor their memory and give them what is their due.