NEXT CHAPTER
Wear Whatʼs Next.
How ROSS is uniquely positioned to help trans veterans being forcibly removed from the United States Military.
This is me.
Michael K. Hoblin Jr.
[Captain · U.S. Army · 8 Years of Service]
People make assumptions about the military.
They imagine uniformity of thought — one kind of person, from one kind of place. That hasn't been my experience.
I served alongside people from every background, every faith, every corner of this country. What that environment teaches you is that your biases are a liability. The mission doesn't allow them.
The only question that matters in the field is whether the soldier next to you will be there when you need them. The answer, almost every time, is yes.
Black
Hispanic
Women
17%
17%
19%
An all-volunteer force drawing from everywhere in America. Statista
Executive Order 14183
“Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness.”
Every transgender service member in the United States Armed Forces was ordered to be discharged.
The Problem
~4,200
Active-duty service members diagnosed as having “gender dysphoria” according to DOD. Federal News Network
~1,000
Separation processes initiated by June 2025. PBS
15–18
Years served by some members — three years from a full pension — when the Air Force revoked their retirement applications. PBS
$1–2M
Estimated lifetime loss of benefits per family. GLAD
17 service members are currently suing the federal government in the Court of Claims to recover retirement they had already been officially approved to receive.
Sources: White House EO 14183 · Federal News Network · PBS · GLAD
They completed every tour. They earned every promotion. Yet they were forced to hang up their uniforms forever.
The Insight
You wore the same clothes as everyone else purchased from the Post Exchange on base. You lived in a microcosm where you were shielded from fashion and culture. (I can personally attest to this)
When you leave the military after years in uniform, you don't know how to dress for civilian life.
Then youʼre suddenly in the real world and trying to learn how to corporate camouflage.
of veterans say the loss of purpose and identity is their top transition challenge. PubMed
74%
When you've spent years presenting as a different gender, you have to discover how to dress as yourself.
The clothes that fit weren't yours. The ones you wanted weren't allowed. Cultivating your style takes years of trial and error. Years that you were never afforded.
Your wardrobe was never built, and now youʼre rushing through options not right for your body.
trans individuals found affirming, correctly fitting clothing “extremely difficult” to obtain. Fashion Studies
80%
Two completely different journeys with one moment in common — standing in front of a closet that doesn't know who you are yet.
Ross Dress for Less is in the business of getting people dressed. This is their moment.
THE OPPORTUNITY
NOT JUST PRACTICAL. ASPIRATIONAL.
The interview suit. The work clothes for the first ninety days. The shoes that have to last a shift.
Trans veterans being discharged are looking for practical support that lets them show up — to interviews, to new jobs, to the rest of their lives — as themselves.
ROSS has 1,700+stores across 40 states
In military towns and working-class neighborhoods, Ross is the largest off-price apparel retailer in the United States. Rossstores
ROSS has the unique ability to help them build a flexible, functional, and reliable wardrobe.
THE BIG IDEA
NEXT CHAPTER
Three Executions. One Mission.
01
The
Grant
Wardrobe funding and styling support for the careers and journeys still ahead of them.
02
The
Installation
One thousand uniforms. In formation. Feel the number of servicemembers lost to political fear-mongering.
03
The
Registry
A permanent, searchable record of every service member who was ever here. Read their stories. Memorialize their service.
No execution requires another. The grant doesn't require a uniform. The uniform doesn't require a name. Every choice belongs to the participant.
Wear What’s Next
Execution 01
THE GRANT
Covers the practical realities of rebuilding a civilian career.
→ Interview and work clothing, sized and selected by the recipient
→ Optional one-on-one styling support from Ross associates, in store or by appointment
→ Introductions to partner organizations for résumé work, credential translation, and legal navigation
5
questions
15
minutes to apply
10
days to receive a decision
Requires a DD-214 or equivalent. Nothing else. Applications are reviewed only by program staff at an administering partner. No personal data is shared with Ross corporate. Nothing is published without written consent. The grant is available whether or not you loan a uniform. The two programs are administered separately. Neither application asks about the other.
Execution 02
The Installation
The Uniforms We Still See.
One thousand dress uniforms, loaned voluntarily by trans service members, arranged in formation.
Each displayed exactly as it was worn — rank, ribbons, and insignia intact.
No logo. No hero image. Just a name earning its place in the presence of service.
The installation begins in cities. It ends in Washington D.C. We want the people who signed that order to walk through it. To read the plaques. To understand what they interrupted.
This is not a protest.
It is a record.
Records don't go away.
Execution 03
The Registry
Every Uniform Has a Record
Every trans service member discharged under gender identity policies can add their record to the registry on their own terms.
Participants choose how they appear: by name, by pseudonym, or anonymously. They choose what their entry says. That choice can be updated at any time.
SEARCHABLE BY
Branch · Rank · Years of Service
Army · Navy · Marine Corps · Air Force · Coast Guard · Space Force
The registry does not close. Their service is not a footnote. It is the record.
MEASURING SUCCESS
How We’LL Know It’s Working
PROGRAM IMPACT
Grants distributed and redeemed Uniforms in the installation Registry entries verified Partner organizations engaged
BRAND IMPACT
Favorability lift, pre / post launch Earned media value. Sentiment in tour markets New customer acquisition
But the metric that matters most isn't on a dashboard.
One service member whose transition was made easier. One uniform seen as a record of service — not a political statement. One entry that didn't exist the day before. If we do that one thousand times, we've done something.
This is not a Pride Month campaign. It doesn't run for thirty days and go away. The installation tours for a year. The registry doesn't close. The grant runs as long as there are people who need it.
Ross Dress for Less has an opportunity to be remembered as the brand that showed up when it counted.
Credits
Art Direction
Michael Hoblin