ACLU Asks Court To Immediately Halt Trans Troop Ban

From the ACLU’s blog:

Today we are filing a motion for a preliminary injunction asking the court to put an immediate stop to the President’s ban to ensure that the harms to our clients and the thousands of other transgender individuals serving our country are rectified immediately.

Individuals like our client Staff Sgt. Kate Cole should not have to worry about whether their job, health care, entire life is on the line— not because of the risks inherent in the work she has so bravely taken on, but due to the political whims of her commander in chief pandering to a base that would like to see her very existence erased. Staff Sgt. Cole has served in the military since she enlisted at 17. She has deployed to Afghanistan, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. This work, her service, is the only job she has ever known, and she has devoted her life to it.

Now her medical care has already been cancelled and she risks losing everything. And for what? Because the president decided to do the military “a favor” and end transgender service without having to study it.

Transgender people are not pawns in a political game. Our lives, our health care, our work cannot be erased with a tweet. We will not let that happen, and we are heading to court to stop it.

More from The Hill:



On Aug. 28, the ACLU filed suit on behalf of six transgender troops, arguing the ban violates equal protection and due process rights. The ACLU’s suit is one of four against the ban. The others are from the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Outserve-SLDN and Lambda Legal, and Equality California. NCLR and GLAD have also asked for a preliminary injunction in their lawsuit.

In its filing Thursday, the ACLU argued that there will be “irreparable harm” to the troops it represents: “Without a preliminary injunction to preserve the status quo, plaintiffs’ health and careers — and the health and careers of thousands of other transgender service members and qualified individuals who wish to serve — will be irreparably harmed,” the motion said. “The transgender service member ban is unconstitutional and invalid on its face, and the court should enter a preliminary injunction prohibiting Defendants from implementing or enforcing it.”