A federal judge on Tuesday issued an injunction blocking the administration’s new policy ushering transgender troops out of the military, spanking President Trump’s team for what she called an “unabashedly demeaning” ban.
U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes, a Biden appointee to the district court in Washington, said transgender troops have been serving openly since 2021 and there’s no evidence they have hurt military readiness.
She said banning them amounts to discrimination on the basis of sex.
“The military ban is soaked in animus and dripping with pretext. Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact,” she wrote in a 79-page ruling.
She delayed her ruling taking effect for several days to give the administration a chance to appeal.
Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to Mr. Trump, blasted Judge Reyes’ decision.
“District court judges have now decided they are in command of the armed forces,” he wrote on social media. “Is there no end to this madness?”
The fight over transgender troops dates back more than decade, when the Obama administration first removed a longstanding ban and allowed each service to decide its policy. Mr. Trump, in his first administration, reversed that, albeit only after intense legal wrangling.
President Biden, on his fifth day in office, reversed Mr. Trump’s order. Mr. Trump, now in his second term, has moved to restore his ban.
Transgender troops sued, arguing their qualifications and commendations prove they serve capably.
Judge Reyes agreed, and said the Trump administration did no studies to contradict those claims.
She said her decision rests on a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that found discrimination against transgender persons is discrimination on the basis of sex, which is barred under the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
“The military ban excludes from service transgender women because they are biologically male but identify as women. Had those very same servicemembers been born female, the military would not ban them. Is this discrimination on the basis of sex? The test is simple: would changing that transgender soldier’s sex lead to a different decision by the military? Yes, a biological female who identifies as a woman is not banned. Ergo, discrimination,” she wrote.
She also rejected the Pentagon’s claims that the military has to spend too much on transitioning troops, saying the $5.2 million a year is a pittance of the Pentagon’s budget.
“If the military ban goes into effect, it will upend lives and ruin the careers of thousands of persons,” Judge Reyes wrote.
