Equality California last week filed a
lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of
President Donald Trump's ban on transgender troops.
Late last month, the White House issued
guidance on implementing Trump's ban, which he first announced on
Twitter.
Trump's guidance directs the military
to bar transgender people from entering the military and to stop
paying for the transition-related health care of active duty
transgender troops, but stops short of banning transgender troops,
leaving the decision of what the military should do about active-duty
transgender troops to military leaders.
(Related: Trump
directs Pentagon to ban transgender recruits.)
Plaintiffs in the case, titled Stockman
v. Trump, are three unnamed active-duty transgender service
members serving in the United States Army and Air Force and four
named individuals, three of whom wish to join the military but
cannot, and Jaquice Tate, a 27-year-old active-duty member of the
Army.
“President Trump has attacked
American heroes who have risen above discrimination, hostility and
lack of acceptance to serve our country by putting their lives on the
line in its defense,” said
Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California. “His
justification for the ban bears no relation to the truth. Contrary to
what the President states, ejecting loyal members of the armed forces
promotes chaos and division, not unit cohesion. The cost to the
government of transition-related care is negligible. On the other
hand, discharging thousands will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions
of dollars and will rip trained and loyal servicemembers out of their
units, harming military readiness and requiring the military to find
and pay to train replacements. The order effectively leaves no
discretion to military leaders, many of whom are firmly opposed to
this ban.”
Three additional lawsuits challenging
the ban have been filed. In Karnoski v. Trump, Lambda Legal
and OutServe-SLDN are representing three plaintiffs, while the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is representing five
active-duty transgender service members in Stone v. Trump. A
third lawsuit, filed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
and GLBTQ Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) in federal court in the
District of Columbia, was filed soon after Trump announced the policy
change on Twitter.