The Pentagon forced out a transgender Army major. Now her story is Emmy-nominatedhttps://www.advocate.com/politics/national/erica-vandal-transgender-emmy-nomination 🔗Christopher Wiggins (15 April 2026)
A short documentary about transgender service members forced out of the U.S. military under President Donald Trump has been nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy, bringing renewed attention to a policy that has already reshaped the lives of those at its center.
The film, 'Fighting to Serve', follows Army Major Erica Vandal, a decorated officer and plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging the ban. Produced by Evident Media in collaboration with PBS NewsHour, it is available on YouTube.
"Honored to be nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy for my reporting on the trans soldiers purged from the military under President Trump," journalist Dan Ming wrote on Instagram, describing the project as part of a series tracking transgender military service across administrations.
For Vandal, the recognition arrives with dissonance. She is no longer in the Army.
When Vandal first spoke with The Advocate last year, she was still in uniform, and the case, Talbott v. USA, appeared to be gaining traction after a federal judge sharply questioned the government's rationale for the ban. At the time, she described a life that had begun to align.
