LGBTQ+ advocacy groups on Tuesday filed a suit against Trump’s executive order on transgender military ban. This is the first legal challenge to one of the several executive orders that Trump has signed since being sworn in for the second time. Trump’s order revoked Biden’s order that allowed transgender people to serve openly in the military according to their gender. Those opposed to this order argue that it goes against our collective responsibility to protect our national security.
Transgender Military Ban: It All Started in 2017
In 2017, President Trump announced that the United States government would not allow transgender individuals to serve in the military. Despite many legal battles in the federal courts, the ban went into effect in April 2019. The ban impacted thousands of transgender troops serving in the military and those looking to enlist. The ban was reversed by Biden on Jan.25, 2021, immediately after he took over the White House.
Now, after four years, we are back to where we were in 2017 following Trump’s swearing-in. As expected, the new ban on transgender in the U.S. military is facing the first legal battle from two LGBTQ+ rights groups: The GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. The rights groups filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of six active transgender military members and two looking to enlist in the service.
We’ve Being Serving Well
Bree Fram, a Space Force Colonel, and a transgender woman, came out while serving in the U.S. military. Speaking to a news reporter, Fram said that despite being transgender, they have continued to serve in high standards set by the military here in the U.S. and around the world.
Trump’s executive order directs Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense to adopt a policy that transgender individuals aren’t fit to execute the high standards laid out by the executive order.
On the other hand, the opponents argue the order is discriminatory and makes transgender individuals look inferior.
Sasha Buchert, an attorney at Lambada (who also represented plaintiffs in 2017) says the order is cruel and puts national security at risk. She says that some trans individuals have been serving in the military for ten years and have met the high military standards, just like their peers.
Statistics on Transgender Military Members
- According to a 2026 RAND Corporation report, of the 1.3 million active military members, 1320 to 6630 active military members and 830 to 4160 in the reserve had come out as transgender.
- A 2015 survey by the Department of Defense Health Related Behaviors found that 0.6% of active duty service members identified as transgender.
- A 2024 research on the National Transgender Discrimination Survey by the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute found that approximately 15,500 individuals served in the military. According to the research, about 134,000 transgender people had retired from the service or veterans.
- A survey on Workplace and Gender Relations of Military Members involving 98,690 members revealed that 0.4 identified as transgender, while 1.2% didn’t match their current identity.
I Want to Continue Serving in the Military: Transgender Military Members Say
Transgender individuals say they would love to continue to serve in the military arguing that transgender military ban order is discriminatory.
Emily Shilling, a Navy commander and one of the plaintiffs, says they have served in the military for nearly two decades while withholding the highest standards set by the military. Emily participated in dozens of combat missions for the U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, adding that all they want is an opportunity to serve the country.
Ensign Dan Danridge, a Navy flight student says they don’t know life outside the military, having been born on a military base. Danridge adds that they prepare for military tasks like everybody else and pass all the tests, arguing that being transgender is irrelevant and that what matters is they don’t jeopardize critical mission tasks.
Transgender Military Ban: Which Way Forward?
The president’s order continues to receive criticism not just from human rights groups and LGBTQ+ advocates but from Democrats as well. Senator Andy Kim termed Trump’s decision an insult to brave transgender service military members, emphasizing the importance of a military that recognizes and respects all Americans.
Going forward, we expect more lawsuits to be filed by other human rights groups and LGBTQ+ advocates. We can only wait to see what the courts will decide and whether the case will head to the Supreme Court.