President Trump’s administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow the enforcement of a ban on transgender people in the military while legal challenges proceed. The ban has been blocked by a federal appeals court in an order that kept a court order blocking the policy in place nationwide. The administration argues that the ban should be allowed to take effect nationwide, except for the seven service members and one aspiring member of the military who sued. The court has given the lawyers for the service members challenging the ban a week to respond.
Following the beginning of his second term, President Trump moved to roll back the rights of transgender people, including issuing an executive order claiming that the sexual identity of transgender service members conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy presumptively disqualifying transgender people from military service. However, a federal judge ruled in favor of long-serving transgender military members who argue that the ban is insulting and discriminatory, causing lasting damage to their careers and reputations.
During Barack Obama’s presidency, a Defense Department policy permitted transgender people to serve openly in the military. However, Trump issued a directive banning transgender service members during his first term, with exceptions for some who had already started transitioning. The Supreme Court allowed this ban to take effect, but President Biden scrapped it when he took office. The current policy being proposed by the Defense Department contains no exceptions, with the administration arguing that it is similar to the policy that was implemented during Trump’s first term.
Thousands of transgender individuals currently serve in the military, representing less than 1% of the total number of active-duty service members. The ban on transgender people in the military has also been blocked by a federal judge in the nation’s capital, but the ruling has been temporarily halted by a federal appeals court. The three-judge panel, including two judges appointed by Trump, seemed to be in favor of the administration’s position. In a more limited ruling, a judge in New Jersey has barred the Air Force from removing two transgender men, stating that their separation would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations that no monetary settlement could repair.
