Trump Administration Digging in Its Heels on Transgender Military Ban

(WASHINGTON, D.C., November 21, 2017)-On Tuesday, the Trump administration filed an appeal in Doe v. Trump, the first lawsuit filed to stop Trump's transgender military ban. On October 30, U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Colleen Kollar-Kotelly granted the National Center for Lesbian Rights' (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders' (GLAD) motion for preliminary injunction, placing a nationwide halt on the ban. Earlier on Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ruled in Stone v. Trump, another of the four federal lawsuits filed challenging Trump's ban, and issued a second preliminary injunction. NCLR and GLAD issued the following statements in response to today's Trump administration appeal:

"Despite rulings from two federal judges that Trump's transgender military ban is unconstitutional, the Trump administration is digging in its heels," said NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter. "Thousands of transgender Americans are serving honorably-many with decades-long careers-and are just as willing and capable as any of their peers. This attack on our dedicated service members is not just unconstitutional, it's a disgrace."

"Today's filing signals that the Trump administration is more committed than ever to demeaning and stigmatizing transgender service members and transgender Americans," said GLAD Transgender Rights Project Director Jennifer Levi on Tuesday. "The government filings supporting these baseless attacks read like pure fiction-and thousands of transgender Americans need and deserve for this horror story to end."

In Doe v. Trump, NCLR and GLAD argue that Trump's ban, first announced in a series of tweets, is irresponsible and discriminatory because qualified and able transgender Americans who wish to enlist have been barred from doing so and transgender service members have been demeaned and stigmatized and faced with the prospect of discharge and the loss of their professions, livelihoods, health care, and the post-military retirement they have worked hard to earn.

NCLR and GLAD have been at the center of the legal fight challenging President Trump's military ban since filing Doe v. Trump, the first of four cases filed against the ban, on August 9.

The two organizations are also co-counsel in a second suit challenging the ban, Stockman v. Trump, brought by Equality California. Oral argument in Stockman v. Trump is scheduled for Monday, December 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.