Supreme Court allows Trump ban on transgender members of the military to
take effect, for now
[May 07, 2025]
By MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald
Trump’s administration to enforce a ban on transgender people in the
military, while legal challenges proceed.
The court acted in the dispute over a policy that presumptively
disqualifies transgender people from military service and could lead to
the expulsion of experienced, decorated officers.
The court’s three liberal justices said they would have kept the policy
on hold. Neither the justices in the majority or dissent explained their
votes, which is not uncommon in emergency appeals.
Just after beginning his second term in January, Trump moved
aggressively to roll back the rights of transgender people. Among the
Republican president’s actions was an executive order 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 in February
that gave the military services 30 days to figure out how they would
seek out and identify transgender service members to remove them from
the force. Those actions had been stalled by the lawsuits.
“No More Trans @ DoD,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X following Tuesday's
Supreme Court order. Earlier in the day, before the court acted, Hegseth
said that his department is leaving wokeness and weakness behind. “No
more pronouns,” he told a special operations forces conference in Tampa.
“No more dudes in dresses. We’re done with that s—-.”
The Defense Department said Tuesday that officials are currently
determining the next steps, but officials were not aware of any actions
being taken right away.
Three federal judges had ruled against the ban.
In the case the justices acted on Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge
Benjamin Settle in Tacoma, Washington, had ruled for seven long-serving
transgender military members who say that the ban is insulting and
discriminatory and that their firing would cause lasting damage to their
careers and reputations. A prospective service member also sued.
The individual service members who challenged the ban together have
amassed more than 70 medals in 115 years of service, their lawyers
wrote. The lead plaintiff is Emily Shilling, a Navy commander with
nearly 20 years of service, including as a combat pilot who flew 60
missions in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The Trump 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, Settle wrote. The
judge is an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush and is a
former captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps.
Settle imposed a nationwide hold on the policy and a federal appeals
court rejected the administration’s emergency plea. The Justice
Department then turned to the Supreme Court.
The policy also has been blocked by a federal judge in the nation’s
capital, but that ruling has been temporarily halted by a federal
appeals court, which heard arguments last month. The three-judge panel,
which includes two judges appointed by Trump during his first term,
appeared to be in favor of the administration’s position.
[to top of second column]
|
The Supreme Court at sunset in Washington, Feb. 13, 2016. (AP
Photo/Jon Elswick, File)
In a more limited ruling, a judge in New Jersey also has 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.
The LGBTQ rights groups Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign
Foundation called the high court order a devastating blow to
dedicated and highly qualified service members.
"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. 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,” the groups said in a
statement.
The federal appeals court in San Francisco will hear the
administration's appeal in a process that will play out over several
months at least. All the while, though, the transgender ban will
remain in place under the Supreme Court order.
In 2016, during Barack Obama’s presidency, 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 Obama’s Democratic
administration.
The Supreme Court allowed that ban to take effect. President Joe
Biden, a Democrat, scrapped it when he took office.
The rules the Defense Department wants to enforce contain no
exceptions.
The policy during Trump’s first term and the new one are “materially
indistinguishable,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the
justices, though lawyers for the service members who sued disagreed.
Thousands of transgender people serve in the military, but they
represent less than 1% of the 2.1 million troops serving.
A senior defense official said in February that they believe there
are about 4,200 troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria currently
serving in the active duty, National Guard and Reserves.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss
personnel issues, said that between 2015 and 2024, the total cost
for psychotherapy, gender-affirming hormone therapy,
gender-affirming surgery and other treatment for service members is
about $52 million.
___
Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
