Wednesday, January 29, 2025 - Transgender soldiers have filed lawsuits challenging US president Donald Trump's ban on transgender people from serving in the US Military.
In addition to the executive order restricting military
service for trans people, Trump issued an executive order hours after his
inauguration targeting "gender ideology." The order declared that the
U.S. government will recognize only two sexes, male and female, and that “these
sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible
reality,” resulting in the State Department freezing all passport applications
requesting a sex-marker change.
Two national LGBTQ legal organizations filed a federal
lawsuit on Tuesday, January 28 on behalf of six active duty trans service
members and two trans people seeking to enlist.
“This ban betrays fundamental American values of
equal opportunity and judging people on their merit,” Jennifer Levi, the senior
director of transgender and queer rights at GLBTQ Legal Advocates &
Defenders (GLAD Law), said in a statement. “It slams the door on qualified
patriots who meet every standard and want nothing more than to serve their
country, simply to appease a political agenda. That’s not just un-American, it
makes our country weaker by pushing away talented service members who put their
lives on the line every day for our nation.”
GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed the
lawsuit against Trump and several military officials in the U.S. District Court
for the District of Columbia one day after the president signed an executive
order restricting transgender military service.
The order, titled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and
Readiness,” reinstates a policy from Trump’s first term and rescinds a 2021
order by then-President Joe Biden that allowed trans people to enlist and serve
openly.
The new policy is intended "to protect the American
people and our homeland as the world’s most lethal and effective fighting
force," according to the executive order. It adds that "the pursuit
of military excellence cannot be diluted to accommodate political agendas or
other ideologies harmful to unit cohesion."
The executive order requires the Defense Department to update
its medical standards within 60 days to restrict coverage of certain
transition-related care, "end invented and identification-based pronoun
usage," and bar people assigned male at birth from using women’s sleeping,
changing and bathing facilities.
"President Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in
the military discriminates against Plaintiffs based on their sex and based on
their transgender status, without lawful justification, in violation of the
Equal Protection component of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth
Amendment," the lawsuit filed on Tuesday states.
"Rather than being based on any legitimate governmental
purpose, the ban reflects animosity toward transgender people because of their
transgender status."
One of the plaintiffs, Army 2nd Lt. Nicolas Talbott, is a
31-year-old transgender man (pictured above) has served with distinction in an
Army Reserve unit in Pennsylvania, according to the lawsuit. Talbott, the suit
adds, was "named Honor Graduate at basic combat training by his drill
sergeants for going above and beyond in training and stepping up to leadership
roles."
“When you put on the uniform, differences fall away and what
matters is your ability to do the job,” Talbott said in a statement. “Every
individual must meet the same objective and rigorous qualifications in order to
serve. It has been my dream and my goal to serve my country for as long as I
can remember. My being transgender has no bearing on my dedication to the
mission, my commitment to my unit, or my ability to perform my duties in
accordance with the high standards expected of me and every servicemember.”
GLAD and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed suit
against Trump's last trans military ban, issued in 2017, and, as a result,
multiple judges blocked the policy from taking effect for nearly two years. In
2019, the Supreme Court allowed the policy to take effect while litigation
proceeded in lower courts.
Shannon Minter, vice president of legal at the National
Center for Lesbian Rights, said service members' challenge to the suit is even
stronger this time around. He noted that the Supreme Court ruled that
discrimination based on transgender status is discrimination based on sex in
its landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, in 2020. That,
Minter added, means the trans military ban, which necessarily discriminates
based on trans status, would have to meet a very high standard to show that such
discrimination is justified to achieve a legitimate government interest.
Further, trans people have been serving openly for four
years, Minter said, and they "have more than proved themselves."
"They've been deployed, they're serving, they're meeting
all the same standards," he said. "President Trump didn't claim that
this was arising out of some problems that are occurring."
Minter added that Trump, through the executive order,
"openly expressed his animosity and hostility towards transgender
people." He pointed to the top of the order, which states that the
"adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex
conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and
disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.” The order also says trans
identities are "not consistent with the humility and selflessness required
of a service member."
"The government can't discriminate against a group of
people because it doesn't like them," Minter said.
Emily Shilling, a commander and one of the highest-ranking
out trans people in the Navy, said that following news of the renewed ban, her
colleagues have reached out to say they support her.
"Everybody is rallying behind me, but they always have,
because I've shown up every day," said Shilling, who is also president of
SPARTA, an advocacy organization for trans service members and veterans.
"Me being transgender is the least interesting thing there is about me at
work. I'm a good leader, and they're worried about their leader."
A 2014 report by UCLA Law’s Williams Institute and a 2016
report from the Rand Corp. — estimated there were 15,500 (Williams Institute)
and between 2,150 and 10,790 (Rand Corp.) trans people serving in the US
Military.
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