A US federal judge temporarily blocked on Thursday, marking the second nationwide injunction in two weeks.
US District Court Judge Benjamin Settle ruled that transgender service members would suffer “irreparable harm of losing the military service career they have chosen” if removed and criticized the administration’s lack of justification for the ban.
“The government’s arguments are not persuasive, and it is not an especially close question on this record,” Settle wrote.
Plaintiffs call policy discriminatory
Thursday’s ruling follows a similar order last week by US District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, DC, temporarily blocking the ban on troops.
Reyes ruled that the government cannot enforce the ban. The lawsuit against the ban was filed by current and prospective service members who labelled the policy is discriminatory.
The order was temporarily put on hold pending an emergency motion on Thursday by the to enforce the ban while appeals are pending.
Meanwhile, a separate New Jersey ruling protected two transgender airmen but, unlike the other two orders, didn’t apply to the entire military.
Ban could affect thousands of military personnel
An executive order signed on January 27 by Trump claimed the sexual identity of service members conflicted with military values and is harmful to military readiness.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth followed this by issuing a policy that presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service.
Critics of the ban argue that the action is discriminatory and undermines the contributions of transgender military members.
“We are confident the court will recognize that the true harm to our armed forces comes not from retaining these tremendous assets, but from forcing them out,” Jennifer Levi, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an email.
If the ban goes into effect, it could affect thousands of currently serving transgender troops, although they make up less than 1% of the total number of active-duty service members.
Edited by: John Silk
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