US judge blocks Trump's ban on transgender military service

A federal judge has temporarily blocked former President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from serving in the US military.

Judge Ana Reyes, a district judge in Washington, DC, ruled on March 18 that the ban likely violates the constitutional rights of transgender service members, granting a preliminary injunction requested by a group of plaintiffs, Caliber.Az reports citing foreign media.

The injunction prevents the enforcement of Trump’s order, which aimed to exclude transgender individuals from military service. Reyes delayed the order for three days to allow time for the administration to appeal.

"The court knows that this opinion will lead to heated public debate and appeals. In a healthy democracy, both are positive outcomes,” Reyes wrote in her ruling. “We should all agree, however, that every person who has answered the call to serve deserves our gratitude and respect.”

Army Reserves 2nd Lt. Nicolas Talbott, one of the plaintiffs in the case, expressed his relief after the ruling. "This is such a sigh of relief," Talbott said. "This is all I’ve ever wanted to do. This is my dream job, and I finally have it. And I was so terrified that I was about to lose it."

Trump signed the executive order in January 2017, stating that transgender service members' sexual identity "conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle" and harms military readiness. The order sparked a legal battle, with plaintiffs arguing that the ban violates the equal protection rights of transgender individuals under the Fifth Amendment.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys, including representatives from the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLAD Law, emphasized that transgender troops seek the opportunity to continue their service without discrimination. “These accomplished servicemembers are now subject to an order that says they must be separated from the military based on a characteristic that has no bearing on their proven ability to do the job,” the attorneys said.

The case highlights the ongoing legal and societal struggles around transgender rights in the US military, with thousands of transgender individuals currently serving in the armed forces.

By Vafa Guliyeva