A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the U.S. military from enforcing President Donald Trump's executive order barring transgender people from military service while a lawsuit by 20 current and would-be service members challenging the measure goes forward.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington found Trump's January 27 order, one of several issued by the Republican president targeting legal rights for transgender Americans, likely violated the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on sex discrimination.
"The cruel irony is that thousands of transgender service members have sacrificed — some risking their lives — to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the military ban seeks to deny them," Reyes said.
Reyes was appointed by President Joe Biden, Trump's Democratic predecessor.
Jennifer Levi, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, praised the court for acting "decisively and swiftly."
"This ruling pulls no punches. The court methodically documented the concrete harms this ban inflicts on brave transgender service members who ask nothing more than to serve their country with honor," Levi said in a statement.
Representatives of the White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In response to Trump's order, the military said on February 11 it would no longer allow transgender individuals to join the military and would stop performing or facilitating procedures associated with gender transition for service members. Later that month, the military said it would begin expelling transgender members.
Trump said in his order that "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."
Reyes said in her ruling the government had conceded the plaintiffs were excellent soldiers and living proof "transgender persons can have the warrior ethos, physical and mental health, selflessness, honor, integrity, and discipline to ensure military excellence."
"So why discharge them and other decorated soldiers? Crickets from defendants on this key question," Reyes said.
Trump issued a similar executive order during his first term, during which already-serving transgender members were allowed to remain.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued the order was illegal, pointing to a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that employment discrimination against transgender people is a form of illegal sex discrimination.
Lawyers for the government have argued in court the military is entitled to bar people with certain conditions that make them unsuitable for service, also including bipolar disorder and eating disorders. At a March 12 hearing, they told Reyes she should defer to the judgment of the current administration that transgender people are not fit for service.
The judge repeatedly pressed them to justify their stance with evidence, and at times expressed open outrage at the order's language denigrating the character of transgender people.
The military has about 1.3 million active-duty personnel, Department of Defense data shows. While transgender rights advocates say there are as many as 15,000 transgender service members, officials say the number is in the low thousands.
