By Justin Jouvenal August 28, 2017
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the Trump administration’s controversial ban on transgender people enlisting, receiving Armed Forces medical care for sex reassignment surgeries, and possibly continuing to serve. The suit, filed in federal court in Maryland on behalf of six active-duty military members, argues that the ban is unconstitutional because it discriminates against transgender people and treats them unequally. “It’s such an egregious attempt to target transgender individuals who have devoted their careers and lives to the United States,” said Chase Strangio, a staff attorney for the ACLU. “The president claims in tweets transgender service costs money and military readiness. The reality is the Department of Defense concluded after years of study that is baseless.” A Department of Defense spokesman said the Pentagon was aware of the lawsuit, but referred all questions to the Department of Justice. “We are examining the claims in this lawsuit and conferring within the Government,” the Justice Department wrote in a statement. “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” Trump wrote in the tweets. “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.”
The decision was cheered by many religious conservatives but angered LGBT activists, liberals and some in Trump’s own party, such as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who complained about the president rolling out a major policy on Twitter and possibly forcing people out of the military who were otherwise qualified. The ban reversed an Obama administration decision to allow transgender people to serve openly. The armed forces were set to begin enlisting transgender people July 1, but Defense Secretary Jim Mattis delayed that move, citing a need for more study. Before the policy change by the Obama administration, the Pentagon had concluded that there was no basis for the military to exclude transgender people, as long as they could meet the same fitness requirements as other service members. The review examined medical care, military readiness and other factors. There is no official tally of transgender military members, and estimates have varied widely. One recent study by Rand Corp. put the figure on active duty at about 2,500, while another from the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School estimated that there were 15,500 on active duty, in the National Guard and in the reserve.The lawsuit was filed just days after Trump formally ordered the Pentagon to ban the recruitment of openly transgender people and to determine whether those already serving should be allowed to remain.
