Another federal judge blocks Trump policy banning transgender troops in
the military
[March 28, 2025]
By GENE JOHNSON
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A U.S. judge in Washington state has blocked
enforcement of President Donald Trump’s order banning transgender people
from serving in the military, the second nationwide injunction against
the policy in as many weeks.
The order Thursday from U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle in
Tacoma came in a case brought by several long-serving transgender
military members who say the ban is insulting and discriminatory, and
that their firing would cause lasting damage to their careers and
reputations.
In his 65-page ruling, Settle — an appointee of former President George
W. Bush and a former captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General
Corps — said the administration offered no explanation as to why
transgender troops, who have been able to serve openly over the past
four years with no evidence of problems, should suddenly be banned.
“The government’s arguments are not persuasive, and it is not an
especially close question on this record,” Settle wrote. “The
government’s unrelenting reliance on deference to military judgment is
unjustified in the absence of any evidence supporting ‘the military’s’
new judgment reflected in the Military Ban.”
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., similarly issued an
order blocking the policy last week but then put her own ruling
temporarily on hold pending the government's appeal. The U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia late Thursday told the
parties that it would consider putting the ruling into effect if “any
action occurs that negatively impacts" transgender service members.
In a more limited ruling on Monday, a judge in New Jersey barred the Air
Force from removing two transgender men, saying they showed their
separation would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations
that no monetary settlement could repair.

Trump signed an executive order Jan. 27 that claims the sexual identity
of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to
an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s
personal life” and is harmful to military readiness.
In response, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that
presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service.
“They can do the right number of pullups. They can do the right amount
of pushups. They can shoot straight,” Sasha Buchert, an attorney with
the civil rights law firm Lambda Legal, said after arguments Monday in
Tacoma. “Yet, they’re being told they have to leave the military simply
because of who they are.”
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U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Sierra Moran, a transgender service member,
listens during a press conference in Tacoma, Wash., on Tuesday,
March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes)

Those challenging the policy and Trump’s executive order in Tacoma
include Gender Justice League, which counts transgender troops among
its members, and several transgender members of the military. Among
them is U.S. Navy Cmdr. Emily “Hawking” Shilling, a 42-year-old
woman who has served for more than 19 years, including 60 missions
as a combat aviator in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In his ruling, Settle highlighted her case.
“There is no claim and no evidence that she is now, or ever was, a
detriment to her unit’s cohesion, or to the military’s lethality or
readiness, or that she is mentally or physically unable to continue
her service,” he wrote. “There is no claim and no evidence that
Shilling herself is dishonest or selfish, or that she lacks humility
or integrity. Yet absent an injunction, she will be promptly
discharged solely because she is transgender.”
During arguments Monday, Justice Department lawyer Jason Lynch
insisted that the president was entitled to deference in military
affairs and suggested the service ban was not as broad as the
plaintiffs had suggested.
The judge peppered Lynch with questions, noting that the government
had offered no evidence that allowing transgender troops to serve
openly had caused any problems for military readiness.
Thousands of transgender people serve in the military, but they
represent less than 1% of the total number of active-duty service
members.
In 2016, a Defense Department policy permitted transgender people to
serve openly in the military. During Trump’s first term in the White
House, the Republican issued a directive to ban transgender service
members, with an exception for some of those who had already started
transitioning under more lenient rules that were in effect during
the Obama administration. The Supreme Court allowed that ban to take
effect. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, scrapped it when he took
office.
The rules imposed by Hegseth include no such exceptions.
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