By Charles Switzer
1:46am PDT, Apr 26, 2025
Trump Administration Seeks Supreme Court Action on Transgender Military Ban
On Thursday, April 24, the second
Donald Trump administration petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a lower court's injunction and allow a
ban on transgender individuals serving in the military to take effect while litigation continues, the
New York Post reported.
This move comes after a January executive order from the controversial president to ban transgender service members, which was blocked by a federal judge last month.
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The Background of the Ban and Legal Challenges
In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting "gender radicalism in the military," seeking to discharge transgender service members. However, in February, a federal judge ruled against the order, declaring it unconstitutional and "soaked in animus."
The judge's decision prevented the ban from being implemented, a ruling that the Trump administration now seeks to overturn through the Supreme Court.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer, representing the administration, argued that the injunction imposed by the district court should not remain in place while the legal process continues. Sauer stressed the importance of allowing the military to implement the policy based on its professional judgment, which deemed the inclusion of transgender service members harmful to military readiness and the nation's interests.
Administration's Petition to the Supreme Court
D. John Sauer's petition to the high court stated, "The district court's universal injunction will remain in place for the duration of further review in the Ninth Circuit and in this Court — a period far too long for the military to be forced to maintain a policy that it has determined, in its professional judgment, to be contrary to military readiness and the Nation's interests."
The case has now reached the Supreme Court, with the administration hoping for swift action.
While the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the lower court's injunction to remain, the Donald Trump administration now views the Supreme Court as its last resort for a speedy resolution.
The Legal and Political Context
The legal challenge began when seven transgender military service members and one aspiring service member filed a lawsuit against the Donald Trump administration's ban.
Organizations like the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLAD Law support these plaintiffs.
The legal battle reflects the ongoing political divide surrounding the issue, which first gained national attention during former President
Barack Obama's administration, which allowed openly transgender individuals to serve.
Trump reversed that policy during his first term, and after a series of legal challenges, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the ban to take effect before former President
Joe Biden rescinded it.
D. John Sauer cited a policy from 2018 under former Secretary of Defense
James Mattis, which he argued was nearly identical to the current policy: "This case does not plow new ground. In 2018, then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis adopted a policy, materially indistinguishable from the one at issue here, that generally disqualified individuals with gender dysphoria from military service," Sauer stated.
Trump's Executive Order and Its Implications
Donald Trump's executive order aimed to justify the policy by asserting that allowing transgender individuals to serve undermined military values. In his order, Trump argued that "a man's assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member."
His subsequent policy under Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth was one of outright prohibition without exceptions for transgender individuals in the military.
While the exact number of transgender service members is not clear, estimates suggest that they represent less than 1 percent of the total active-duty service members. According to a 2016 Pentagon study, there were approximately 8,980 active-duty and 5,727 reserve troops who identified as transgender, based on a 2018 report by the Palm Center, a think tank focused on military and LGBT issues.
