Map Pesqueira, a transgender student at the University of Texas, has been negatively impacted by a new military policy on transgender servicemembers. Pesquiera is attending the university on a military scholarship, but his scholarship is going to be revoked because of the new policies, according to NBC News.
Pesqueira, a Radio, TV, and Film major, has been in the ROTC program since high school, but the scholarship will be removed because the new military standards disqualify anyone who is taking hormones or has undergone a gender transition.
“It’s sad to think that I will have to move my education around from place to place so I can afford it, when I won a scholarship to pay for my tuition to UT Austin,” Pesqueira said. “Without that scholarship, I will have to move back home and go to community college. There is no guarantee that I will be able to come back to Austin and continue my education here.”
Pesqueira has started a GoFundMe account with the hopes of continuing his education at the University of Texas in Austin.
At the time of this writing, Pesqueira has raised nearly $19,000.
“Since I was a kid, one of my biggest dreams was to pursue a career in the Army to serve my country. While growing up in a military city, my dad often took me to the Fort Sam Houston Army Base for public events and I was always captivated by the uniforms the servicepeople wore, knowing that they belonged to an elite team rooted in pride and unity that protects our country,” the GoFundMe reads.
“That was my inspiration for wanting to be a part of the military; that it wasn’t about the individual, it’s about being involved in something incredibly larger than myself. In high school, I applied for a national scholarship through ROTC Cadet Command and was awarded a 3-year academic scholarship that would take effect at the beginning of my sophomore year. But, this heavily conflicted with a proposed policy that would bar transgender people from entering service if they have already started their transition.”
The university has yet to publicly comment.
“Due to privacy concerns, the University does not comment on specific student cases,” University spokesperson J.B. Bird told Daily Texas Online in an email. “Since every student’s situation is unique, we offer many avenues for students who undergo sudden changes that affect their access to a UT education. These include Student Emergency Services and the Graduation Help Desk, which both work closely with the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.”