A judge in Washington D.C. has deemed President Trump’s policy as discriminatory and driven by “animus.”
A US federal judge has put a stop to the enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order, which prevented transgender individuals from serving in the US military.
The order, issued shortly after Trump took office, blocked transgender people from joining the military and directed the Defense Department to identify and discharge service members with “a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria.”
US District Judge Ana Reyes of Washington, D.C., appointed by President Biden, declared on Tuesday that the ban was motivated by “animus” and violated the equal protection clause by discriminating on the basis of transgender status and sex.
She stated that “Its language is clearly degrading, the policy brands transgender people as inherently unfit, and its conclusions are baseless,” in her ruling.
Judge Reyes has temporarily paused her preliminary injunction until Friday, allowing the Justice Department time to appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
She added that the government “could have developed a policy that considers both the nation’s military readiness and the equal rights of Americans,” and that “they still have the chance. However, the Military Ban does not achieve this. The Court must therefore act to defend the principles of equal protection that the military is sworn to defend,”
A Justice Department spokesperson criticized Reyes’ decision as “the latest instance of an activist judge attempting to overreach at the expense of the American people who overwhelmingly voted for President Trump.”
“The Department of Justice has forcefully defended President Trump’s executive orders, including the Defending Women Executive Order, and will continue its defense,” the spokesperson emphasized.
The lawsuit challenging Trump’s executive order was brought by a group of transgender service members and transgender individuals seeking to enlist, who argued that the policy was “unconstitutional.”
According to a senior US defense official who spoke to AP last month, approximately 4,200 US troops currently serving in the Army, National Guard, and reserves have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.