Judge Blocks Trump’s Ban On Transgender People In The Military

18 Mar 2025 by Molly Bohannon · Forbes

Topline

A judge Tuesday blocked the military from enforcing an executive order signed by President Donald Trump seeking to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. military, delivering the latest legal blow to Trump over his executive orders.

President Donald Trump answers reporters' questions while hosting Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin in ... [+] the Oval Office at the White House on March 12, 2025 in Washington, DC.Getty Images

Key Facts

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes granted a preliminary injunction to the transgender plaintiffs suing the government over Trump’s executive order in a 79-page ruling Tuesday, saying the plaintiffs and any other transgender military members would be “subject to irreparable harm” if an injunction wasn’t granted.

The ruling was in response to a lawsuit over an executive order Trump signed on Jan. 27 that stated “adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual's sex conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life.”

Reyes said the judgment will be stayed until Friday “to provide Defendants time to consider filing an emergency stay with the D.C. Circuit” court.

This story is developing and will be updated.

Crucial Quote

“Plaintiffs’ service records alone are Exhibit A for the proposition that transgender persons can have the warrior ethos, physical and mental health, selflessness, honor, integrity, and discipline to ensure military excellence,” Reyes wrote in her ruling. “So why discharge them and other decorated soldiers? Crickets from Defendants on this key question.”

What To Watch For

Trump’s response to the judgment. He had not publicly commented on the injunction as of 7:25 p.m. EDT.

Key Background

Trump signed the order just days after taking office in January, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a policy aligning with the order in early February. The suit, Talbott v. Trump, was filed one day after Trump signed the order, on behalf of six active service members and two people trying to enlist in the military. Since it was filed, 12 more plaintiffs have joined, according to GLAAD Law, a legal advocacy group for transgender people that helped file the suit. Reyes had previously indicated she would grant the injunction. During a hearing on March 12, she questioned the government’s lawyers about the proposed ban, saying the data from reports they cited when the ban was issued was out of date, the Defense Department “cherry-picked” data and it drew conclusions that were “totally, grossly misleading,” The New York Times reported.

Big Number

15,500. That’s how many transgender people were serving in the military in 2014, according to an estimate from the Williams Center at UCLA School of Law, which studies sexual orientation and gender identity. The Department of Defense has the current number significantly lower, closer to 4,200 people, according to the Times.