Trump bans transgender service members from U.S. armed forces

  • by Christopher Kane, Washington Blade
  • Tuesday January 28, 2025
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President Donald Trump. Photo: Via White House/X
President Donald Trump. Photo: Via White House/X

President Donald Trump on Monday signed a series of executive orders focused on the military, including banning transgender service members from the U.S. armed forces and a directive gutting the Pentagon's diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. LGBTQ legal organizations said they would sue, and two did on Tuesday.

White House officials said new military standards for mental and physical readiness will exclude transgender troops, which would mean the executive order goes further than the ban Trump implemented during his first term in 2017.

Among the first actions the president took after his inauguration on January 20 was rescinding the order that former President Joe Biden signed after he took office in 2021 that allowed trans and gender diverse service members to serve openly.

"The implementation [of the ban] is on the DoD regarding specifics," a White House official told CNN.

A February 2018 memo by the U.S. Department of Defense contained carveouts to exempt trans service members already in uniform who had joined the military prior to the policy excluding them, along with those who do not require a change in gender or those who have been "stable for 36 consecutive months in their biological sex prior to accession."

DEI practices, meanwhile, will be subject to review by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was narrowly confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 24.

Two groups sue

Less than 24 hours after the executive order, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging Trump's January 27, 2025, order banning transgender people from serving in the U.S. military, the groups stated in a news release.

The suit, Talbott v. Trump, was filed on equal protection grounds on behalf of six active service members and two individuals actively seeking enlistment.

"When you put on the uniform, differences fall away and what matters is your ability to do the job," stated Nicolas Talbott, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. "Every individual must meet the same objective and rigorous qualifications in order to serve. It has been my dream and my goal to serve my country for as long as I can remember. My being transgender has no bearing on my dedication to the mission, my commitment to my unit, or my ability to perform my duties in accordance with the high standards expected of me and every servicemember."

NCLR and GLAD stated that the plaintiffs serve across all branches of the military and are contributing among the highest levels, including a major, a captain, a sergeant, and a Navy pilot.

Other lawsuits likely

Meanwhile, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Human Rights Campaign on Monday announced plans to sue the Trump-Vance administration "to block implementation of yet another discriminatory and dangerous attempt to bar patriotic transgender military service members from serving openly in the U.S. armed services," Lambda Legal stated in a news release.

"We have been here before and seven years ago were able to successfully block the earlier administration's effort to prevent patriotic, talented Americans from serving their country," stated Sasha Buchert, Lambda Legal counsel and director of its Nonbinary and Transgender Rights Project. "Not only is such a move cruel, it compromises the safety and security of our country and is particularly dangerous and wrong. As we promised then, so do we now: we will sue."

"Thousands of current service members are transgender, and many have been serving openly, courageously, and successfully in the U.S. military for more than eight years — not to mention the previous decades when many were forced to serve in silence," Buchert added. "Once again, as during the first term, the Trump administration is attacking a vulnerable population based on bias, political opportunism, and demonstrably untrue 'alternative facts,' denying brave men and women the opportunity to serve our country without any legitimate justification whatsoever."

Sarah Warbelow, vice president of legal at HRC, stated, "Our military servicemembers, including thousands of transgender troops, wear the same uniform, take the same oath, and meet the same rigorous standards," adding, "they are heroes who put their lives on the line to protect our country — and we owe them all a debt of gratitude."

"Instead, this discriminatory ban insults their service and puts our national security at risk. Expelling highly trained members of our military undermines military readiness and wastes years of financial and training investments," Warbelow stated.

"It also needlessly upends the lives of families who have already sacrificed so much," she said. "The commander in chief should prioritize our military's safety and readiness, not use his position to issue bans on entire groups of people. This order is unconstitutional, and we will see this administration in court."

SPARTA Pride, a nonprofit for transgender people who currently serve or have served in the military, released a statement on Monday.

"Transgender Americans have served openly and honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces for nearly a decade," the organization stated. Thousands of transgender troops are currently serving, and are fully qualified for the positions in which they serve.

"Transgender service members currently fill critical roles in combat arms, aviation, nuclear engineering, law enforcement, and military intelligence, many requiring years of specialized training and expertise," the statement continued. "Transgender troops have deployed to combat zones, served in high-stakes missions, and demonstrated their ability to strengthen unit cohesion and morale."

SPARTA Pride added that the cost for trans military members who have surgery is minimal, as is their recovery time in most cases.

"While some transgender troops do have surgery, the recovery time and cost is minimal, and is scheduled so as not to impact deployments or mission readiness (all of which is similar to a non-emergent minor knee surgery). The readiness and physical capabilities of transgender service members is not different from that of other service members," the agency stated.

The organization added that it is "standing by to support all transgender service members impacted by this policy."

Modern Military Association of America, an organization for LGBTQ service members, their families, veterans, and allies that came out of the old Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, condemned the executive order, which it called "a significant step backward for military readiness and equality."

"Trans people have served in every conflict since the Revolutionary War, and have been serving openly for almost a decade with honor and integrity in every theater across the globe," stated Rachel Branaman, executive director of Modern Military. "The trans ban was wrong in 2019, it's wrong now, and so has every other attempt to discriminate against minority populations who serve and protect our country. Modern Military will work tirelessly to mitigate the devastating impact this will have on thousands of servicemembers and their families."

While Trump announced his first trans ban via Twitter in 2017, it did not go into effect until 2019. Four separate courts blocked Trump's first ban, until the U.S. Supreme Court lifted those, the American Civil Liberties Union noted.

The National Women's Law Center blasted the order.

"Donald Trump's executive orders are not only cruel, discriminatory, and wrapped in disinformation, but they will make all of us less safe. Throughout our military's history, thousands of transgender people have served with honor, integrity, and bravery," stated Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center. "Attempting to ban them is an insult to their humanity and the contributions that they have made."

Goss Graves was also critical of Trump gutting DEI initiatives in the armed forces.

"Additionally, Trump's decision to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives will lead to further harassment in our ranks, making underrepresented service members a greater target for discrimination," she said. "Already we are hearing reports of anti-harassment policies being taken down based on the order to end equity and inclusion initiatives, which is appalling, misguided, and a gross insult to those who serve."

Goss Graves added, "Everyone, regardless of race, gender or sex, should be able to work with dignity — including in the military — without fear of discrimination and harassment. We will continue to fight against these harmful abuses of power."

The Bay Area Reporter contributed reporting.

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