The American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) on Thursday asked a federal judge to block President Donald
Trump's ban on transgender troops.
In July, Trump tweeted his call for a
complete ban on transgender troops. Roughly a month later, the White
House issued guidance on implementing Trump's ban, in which Trump
claims that the Obama administration “failed to identity a
sufficient basis” to end the military ban – which was rolled back
in June, 2016 – and orders the Pentagon to reinstate the policy,
arguing that transgender people are a “disruption” to the
military.
Joshua Block, senior staff attorney
with the ACLU's LGBT Project, said in a statement that the ACLU was
asking the court “to reinforce what we already know to be true,
which is that President Trump's shameful, impulsive decision to ban
transgender people from serving in the military is blatantly
unconstitutional.”
ACLU lawyers asked the court to issue a
preliminary injunction on behalf of six current members of the armed
forces who are transgender: Petty Officer 1st Class Brock Stone,
Senior Airman John Doe, Airman 1st Class Seven Ero George, Petty
Officer 1st Class Teagan Gilbert, Staff Sgt. Kate Cole, and Technical
Sgt. Tommie Parker.
The ACLU argued that the ban violates
constitutional guarantees of equal protection and substantive due
process as well as the statutory right to medical care that all
service members enjoy.
“Trans service members like me have
earned the privilege of continuing to serve our country so long as we
continue to be fit for duty,” said plaintiff Brock Stone. “We are
equal to the task, and it is our right to have an equal chance to
take that task on.”
The ACLU's case is one of three
challenging the ban. Last month, a federal judge agreed with
plaintiffs seeking to halt the ban.
(Related: Judge
blocks Trump's ban on transgender troops.)