Trans Military Ban Update: New Court Ruling

The D.C. Circuit Court’s United States Court of Appeals just ruled against trans service members in the military. According to New Now Next, the recent ruling lifts the court’s order that prevented Trump’s administration from enforcing the ban. “Today’s ruling is a devastating slap in the face to transgender service members who have proved their fitness to serve and their dedication to this country,” said NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter in a press release. “We will keep fighting this cruel and irrational policy which serves no purpose other than to weaken the military and punish transgender service members for their patriotism and service.”

Despite today’s decision to lift one of four injunctions against the #TransMilitaryBan, the ban remains blocked & we will continue to fight for our #TransTroops in court. Read our full statement here: https://t.co/389ZuPPXPO pic.twitter.com/wn31cCNNrk — GLAD (@GLADLaw) January 4, 2019

“Today’s decision is based on the absurd idea that forcing transgender people to suppress who they are in order to serve is not a ban,” GLAD Transgender Rights Project Director Jennifer Levi claimed, according to New Now Next. “It ignores the reality of transgender people’s lives with devastating consequences and rests on a complete failure to understand who transgender people are. It is also destabilizing to the military to so dramatically reverse a policy that has been in place for over two years that senior military officials acknowledge has operated with no problems.” This ban would technically not deny members based on their “transgender status,” but it would force trans folks in the military to identify with the gender that matches their birth sex. The Trump administration has requested that the Supreme Court take up this case and bypass lower courts, which many believe is to keep information about the ban out of the public eye.