U.S. President Donald Trump has been given the green light to enforce plans to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.
The Supreme Court let Trump’s executive order go ahead while legal challenges make their way through lower courts.
After taking office in January, Trump signed an executive order that gave the Pentagon the power to remove transgender people from service.
Highlights
- The Supreme Court allowed Trump's ban on transgender military service to proceed during ongoing legal battles.
- Trump's executive order reversed a Biden-era policy allowing open transgender service in the U.S. military.
- Lower courts blocked the ban, citing lack of evidence of military impact.
- Advocates call the ban discriminatory, arguing transgender troops meet military standards and should have equal protection.
Trump can move ahead with plans to ban transgender people from serving in the military
Image credits: The White House
In doing so, Trump rescinded a previous order from the Biden administration that permitted transgender people to serve openly in the military.
At the end of February, the Defense Department started to implement the ban, but a legal challenge was launched by seven transgender service members and one transgender person who wanted to sign up for the military.
Several lower courts blocked the ban from going ahead in March, stating that the Trump administration had not provided any evidence to back up claims made in the executive order regarding transgender troops hampering military preparedness.
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But the administration made an emergency application to remove the preliminary injunction, arguing that in matters of national defense, the lower court should defer to the military.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could enforce the ban while legal challenges go ahead.
The court’s three liberal justices–Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor–all publicly dissented from the decision.
“It is the policy of the United States Government to establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity,” the executive order reads.
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“This policy is inconsistent with the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria. This policy is also inconsistent with shifting pronoun usage or use of pronouns that inaccurately reflect an individual’s sex.”
Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, who are representing the plaintiffs, released a joint statement after the ruling.
“Today's Supreme Court ruling is a devastating blow to transgender service members who have demonstrated their capabilities and commitment to our nation’s defense,” they said.
“By allowing this discriminatory ban to take effect while our challenge continues, the Court has temporarily sanctioned a policy that has nothing to do with military readiness and everything to do with prejudice."
Since taking office, Trump has introduced policies that have significantly impacted transgender people
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“Transgender individuals meet the same standards and demonstrate the same values as all who serve. We remain steadfast in our belief that this ban violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and will ultimately be struck down.”
With the administration’s policy now in effect, thousands of people could be discharged from the military.
Pentagon estimates released in February show that about 4,240 people with a diagnosis of gender dysmorphia serve in the military.
Gender dysmorphia—distress because a person’s gender identity differs from their assigned birth sex—is the best way the military can track transgender troops, The New York Times reports.
The estimated figure makes up around 0.2% of the 2 million people in military service.
Trump’s policies since he secured a second term have significantly impacted transgender individuals.
He announced the U.S. would only recognize two sexes—male and female—and said this could not be changed, directing federal agencies to define gender only by birth sex.
Trump also blocked federal funding for gender-affirming care for minors, calling it harmful, and has stopped transgender women from being able to compete in some sports teams.