The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump-Vance administration to enforce a ban on transgender personnel serving in the U.S. Armed Forces pending the outcome of litigation challenging the policy.

The brief order staying a March 27 preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington notes the dissents from liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

On the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump issued an executive order requiring Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to effectuate a ban against transgender individuals, going further than efforts under his first administration — which did not target those currently serving.

The DoD’s Feb. 26 ban argued that “the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service.” 

The case challenging the Pentagon’s policy is currently on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The lead plaintiff is U.S. Navy Commander Emily Shilling, who is joined in the litigation by other current transgender members of the armed forces, one transgender person who would like to join, and a nonprofit whose members either are transgender troops or would like to be.

Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, both representing the plaintiffs, issued a statement Tuesday in response to the Supreme Court’s decision:

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a devastating blow to transgender servicemembers who have demonstrated their capabilities and commitment to our nation’s defense.

“By allowing this discriminatory ban to take effect while our challenge continues, the Court has temporarily sanctioned a policy that has nothing to do with military readiness and everything to do with prejudice.

“Transgender individuals meet the same standards and demonstrate the same values as all who serve. We remain steadfast in our belief that this ban violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and will ultimately be struck down.”

U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer noted that courts must show “substantial deference” to DoD decision making on military issues.

The Trump-Vance administration has cancelled more than $800 million in research into the health of sexual and gender minority groups, according to a report Sunday in The New York Times.

The paper found more than half of the grants through the National Institutes of Health that were scrapped through early May involved the study of cancers and viruses that tend to affect LGBTQ people.

The move goes further than efforts to claw back diversity related programs and gender affirming care for transgender and gender diverse youth, implicating swaths of research by institutions like Johns Hopkins and Columbia along with public universities.

The Times notes that a $41 million cut impacting Florida State University will stall “a major effort to prevent HIV in adolescents and young adults, who experience a fifth of new infections in the United States each year.”

A surge of federal funding for LGBTQ health research began under the Obama-Biden administration and continued since. Under his first term, Trump dedicated substantial resources toward his Ending the HIV Epidemic in the United States initiative.

Cuts administered under the health secretary appointed in his second term, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have put the future of that program in question.

Brazilian Jaime Braz Tarallo created a crossdresser studio 16 years ago so that his male clients could put their other identity into practice. He has worked with more than 5,500 people over the last decade.

According to the businessman, the most important thing is that they feel fulfilled to embody the opposite gender. 

“The goal is to be a woman; to feel like a woman,” he says. 

It’s a unique opportunity for men to express their feminine side in secrecy and away from judgment. Braz, who has also been a crossdresser for 25 years, shares his life with his alter ego, Lizz Camargo, an elegant lady in a blonde wig who agreed to talk about her business with the Washington Blade.

Camargo provides much more than a safe place to be transformed. She gives individual advice, offering make-up and costumes so that the experience is complete from start to finish. To ensure confidentiality, she sees clients one at a time and only by prior appointment to avoid encounters between clients when leaving and arriving at the venue. 

“They want to be feminine and made up, and I’m here to help them get their feminization wish fulfilled,” she says.

On the crossdresser studio’s website, the client chooses a package of services, each one covering a number of items and the duration of the experience, along with waxing and some additional services. Make-up and costumes are essential, and the clientele is mostly married men with children who describe themselves as heterosexual, but crossdress in secret.

Once they have chosen their package, they tell Camargo their weight, height, and shoe size, and she, based on her know-how, chooses a few pieces according to their measurements. On average, the client tries on four outfits and decides which one she likes best. If he’s a bear, Camargo says she has tricks to hide the hair on his legs and chest. 

The important thing is to always maintain femininity.

Camargo’s collection includes several costumes (dresses and lingerie), shoes (in men’s sizes), accessories that include gloves and hats, and 72 wigs of all colors to transform any man into a woman. The space has armchairs and a dressing table for makeup, all with a feminine touch. Packages start at $76, with prices gradually increasing according to what is offered.

Discretion is essential in this often misunderstood world, where the first contact is always made by phone. Even going to the studio is a slow process that can take months. Camargo explains her clients are opening up about their intimacy to someone, and this creates insecurity at first. 

“I would say that 80 percent of them arrive at the studio with a lot of apprehension, fear, and anxiety,” she said.

One of Camargo’s clients is Sheilla, who agreed to speak to the Blade as long as her real name was not revealed. For her, the moments as a crossdresser are something unique. 

“When I have the chance to be ‘in femme,’ because I am a convinced crossdresser, I feel fulfilled in my desire to see myself as a woman,” she said, having crossdressed for five years. 

Most of Camargo’s clients are recurrent, some coming to the studio twice a month, others less frequently. She sees around 25 people a month, and foreigners are not uncommon.

“I’ve seen around 15 people from more conservative countries like Portugal, Mexico, and Ireland, where crossdressing is forbidden, and also from Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, and one person from the United States (Detroit),” she said.

Camargo explained they are people who have come to Brazil for work, and not specifically to dress in the opposite gender.

An outspoken crossdresser like Camargo is something of a rarity; even the outfits they wear are discreet, as if that were the intention. She, however, at least three times a year organizes dinners and cocktail parties at her studio that usually bring together around 50 crossdressers who feel comfortable around other people like her. Camargo four times a year also organizes Queen Cross Night, a party where crossdressers can walk on a catwalk as a team of judges watch them in a kind of beauty pageant.

“The objective is femininity, posture, and elegance — basic requirements — and of course the clothes she is wearing in the contest,” Camargo told the Blade. 

The caterpillar turns into a butterfly

The experienced crossdresser says that most of them start out in childhood, secretly wearing their mother’s or sister’s clothes. As adults, they do it at home when they are alone and often even get rid of the clothes afterwards so that their family doesn’t suspect anything. Contrary to what many people think, they don’t have to be gay but rather have a strong desire to feel like a woman, even if only for a few hours, although Camargo notices a tendency towards bisexuality. 

“I would say that 90 percent are bisexual, even without knowing it or accepting it; some have the desire to be in bed with another man,” she said.

Camargo notes that during the “metamorphosis” process her clients’ posture changes, with a subtle change in voice, way of walking, and behavior, as if the feminine soul were gradually emerging. Unlike gays, lesbians, and transgender people, crossdressers prefer secrecy, as if they were a secret sisterhood; it is not uncommon for Camargo to become a confidante to her clients, who sometimes ask her advice on whether they should reveal the secret to their wives. At this point, she points out to the client that his wife married his masculine side.

One of her oldest clients is 96-years-old, and his wife helped him build his feminine version. He found a way to express himself in the studio after she died five years ago.

Camargo said he looks identical to Queen Elizabeth after his transformation. Although rare, the studio sometimes receives couples where the wife is aware of her husband’s crossdressing side and deals with it well. 

“I see it as a privilege, a cross, with the acceptance and complicity of his wife, makes everything lighter and more interesting for him,” said Camargo.

Of the various package options, three are different. 

In one of them, the crossdresser can stay in the space for one night (wearing a nightgown); in another, she can go on an outing, such as going to a concert or a restaurant as a crossdresser, although it’s not very common. But one of the unique and desired by almost everyone, according to her, is a bridal day. 

“You become a bride, with make-up, false nails, and a wedding dress with a veil, wreath, and bouquet of flowers,” said Camargo. 

The experience, which lasts four and a half hours, costs around $144. Sheilla is one of those who had this experience, which also included photos taken outside.

When the fairy tale ends

The sessions last between three and five hours, depending on the package requested, because the make-up needs to be removed calmly and without a trace. During this process, Camargo often notices a look of sadness when the crossdresser start to come apart; it’s as if the enchantment has come to an end. That’s when the lady becomes a gentleman again, and everything returns to the way it was before.

Camargo can be seen as a visionary. 

In addition to having created an original business in Brazil, she also saw another way to diversify the enterprise for those outside of São Paulo. With this in mind, she travels to other cities and states to carry out a makeover: Bringing clothes, wigs, and shoes in her suitcase. The client in such a case pays for the package and travel expenses. Camargo said she has been to practically every state in Brazil.

Carla, a crossdresser who is another one of Camargo’s clients, lamented the lack of spaces for the crossdresser community.

“There should be more places like this, a lot of people have this desire, but they can’t make it happen,” she said. 

Sheilla suggested something more detailed. 

“It would be interesting to have a place just for us, like a pub or nightclub,” she said.

André Aram is a Brazilian freelance journalist who lives in Rio de Janeiro. He has worked for several media outlets in Brazil and abroad over the last several years. He is passionate about unusual stories and characters.