Washington (AP) – A federal judge blocked the implementation of President Donald Trump’s executive regulation for the ban on transgender people on Tuesday from military service, the youngest in a number of legal setbacks for his comprehensive agenda.
The US district judge Ana Reyes in Washington, DC, decided that Trump’s order to exclude transgender troops from military service probably violated their constitutional rights. She was the second judge of the day that prevailed against the administration, and both decisions were made within a few hours after an extraordinary conflict when Trump asked a third judge who temporarily blocked the deportation flights, which drew a infrequent reproduction of Chief Justice John Roberts.
Reyes, nominated by President Joe Biden, delayed her order until Friday morning to give the administration time to appeal.
“The court knows that this statement will lead to heated public debates and calls. In a healthy democracy, both are positive results,” wrote Reyes. “However, we should all agree that every person who answered the call to serve deserves our gratitude and respect.”
The army reserve 2. Lt. Nicolas Talbott, one of 14 transgender soldiers, who were named as plaintiff in the lawsuit, said he held his breath away when he was waiting to find out whether he was separated from the military next week.
“This is such a sigh of relief,” he said. “This is all I ever wanted to do.
The White House did not immediately answer a message that was looking for a comment. Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff of Trump, made the decision on social media and wrote: “The judges of the district court have now decided that they have commanded the armed forces.
The judge made an injunction that was requested by lawyers who also represent others who want to join the military.
On January 27, Trump signed an executive regulation that claims the sexual identity of members of the transgender service, “conflicts with the commitment of a soldier for an honorable, truthful and disciplined lifestyle, even in personal life” and is harmful to military willingness.
In response to the command, Defense Minister Pete Hegseth published a policy that presumably disqualifies people with gender dysphoria from military service. Gender dysphoria is the need that a person feels because their assigned gender and gender identity does not match. The disease was associated with depression and suicide thoughts.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers claim that Trump’s command violates the rights of transgender people on the same protection after the fifth change.
Government lawyers argue that military officers have a broad discretion to decide how they can assign and utilize services without a judicial interference.
Reyes said that she had to make her decision to make an injunction that was commanding Trump’s command, and found that “judicial excesses are no less harmful than the over -control of executives”. However, she said that it was also the responsibility of every government branch to present the other checks and credit, and the court must “act as to protect the same property rights that the military defends every day.”
Thousands of transgender people serve in the military, but represent less than 1% of the total number of members of the dynamic service.
In 2016, a policy of the Ministry of Defense allowed transgender people to openly serve the military. During Trump’s first term in the White House, the Republican gave a guideline for the ban on transgender service members. The Supreme Court put the ban into force. President Joe Biden, a democrat, scrapped it when he started his office.
According to Hegseth’s guideline of Hegseth on February 26, the service members or applicants for military service who have a current diagnosis or history or have symptoms that match gender dysphoria or are not compatible with the high mental and physical standards required for military service “.
The plaintiffs who sued Trump’s blocks include a Platoon leader of the army from Pennsylvania, a major of the army who was awarded a bronze star for the service in Afghanistan and a award winner of the sailor of the year in the Marine.
“The cruel irony is that thousands of transgender services have sacrificed -some risk their lives -to ensure the very same property rights that the military ban wants to deny it,” wrote Reyes.
Her lawyers from the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Happy Law said that transgender troops “are only looking for the opportunity to continue to devote their lives to defend the nation.”
“But these experienced soldiers are now subject to an arrangement that says that, based on a characteristic that is not on their proven ability to do the work, they are separated from the military,” wrote the plaintiffs. “This is a strong and ruthless reversal of politics that disparages honorable transgender service members, disturbs the cohesion of the units and weakens our military.”
The government’s lawyers said that the Ministry of Defense had disqualified people from military service in the past if they have physical or emotional impairments, including mental illnesses.
“In a different context than the professional military judgment in this case, to enable people with physical or emotional impairments in the military, they would be practically undeniable,” they wrote.
The plaintiff’s lawyers say that Trump’s command fits the discrimination pattern of his government.
The federal judges in Seattle and Baltimore stopped the Executive Ordinance of Trump separately in order to stop the support of the federal government for the gender-known care of transgender youth under 19. Last month, a judge prevented the prison officers from transferring three detained transgender women to the facilities of men to the men’s facilities and terminating their access to hormone therapy.
Trump also signed orders in which modern rules were determined how schools can teach about gender, and which intends to ban transgender athletes from participation in the sports of girls and women.
“From its first few days, this administration rejected the protection of transgender people in various areas – including living space, social benefits, schools, sports, healthcare, employment, international travel and family life,” wrote the plaintiffs.
The 31 -year -old Talbott from Akron, Ohio, joined in March 2024 as an open transperson after fighting for about nine years to join the service. He said his co -soldiers gave him something good -natured flak because he was so much older than other recruits, but never treated him differently because he was transcarbing. Talbott assumes that his colleagues will “be quite excited, that I can stay”.
“Now I can concentrate on what is really important again, that’s the mission,” said Talbott, a train leader for a military police unit.
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Associated Press Writers Lindsay Whitehurst and Gene Johnson contributed to this story.
