Transgender rights advocacy groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against former U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting transgender service members. This marks the first legal challenge to a key part of his conservative military policy.
Trump signed the order on Monday, claiming that identifying as a gender different from one’s birth sex was “not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.” The lawsuit, filed by GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) in a Washington, D.C. district court, argues the order violates the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection clause.
The plaintiffs include six transgender service members and two individuals seeking to enlist. Reuters first reported the lawsuit plans. The order also banned “invented” pronouns in the military but left unclear whether current transgender troops could remain in service.
Rights groups and Democratic lawmakers strongly condemned the move. Senator Andy Kim called the order “an insult to the bravery and service of transgender servicemembers,” questioning how the military could protect all Americans without respecting them.
Trump previously attempted to ban transgender troops in 2017, arguing they created a “tremendous medical cost and disruption” to military readiness. His administration froze transgender recruitment but allowed serving personnel to stay. President Joe Biden reversed the decision in 2021.
The U.S. military has 1.3 million active-duty personnel. While advocacy groups estimate there are 15,000 transgender service members, officials suggest the number is in the low thousands.
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