The Trump Administration Wanted Her Expertise, Just Not Her
Julia Curlee, a transgender CIA analyst, shares her experience of being fired from the White House during the second Trump administration. She discusses the challenges of serving in an administration she describes as hostile toward transgender individuals.
Why it matters
This story explores the intersection of national security, political polarization, and LGBTQ+ rights in the federal workplace.
An interview with the transgender CIA analyst fired from Trump’s White House
Courtesy of Julia Curlee August 17, 2026, 10 AM ET Share Save Editor’s Note: Read Julia Curlee’s full essay here . Listen − 1.0 x + Seek 0:00 35:46
When Julia Curlee was a kid growing up in Hawaii, she dreamed of becoming an intelligence officer. In 2007, when she took her oath standing on the marble CIA seal, she achieved that goal. But she had another childhood dream too: She’d always had “an unshakable belief that I should have been born a woman.”
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