US: Supreme Court Allows Trump Trans Military Ban to Proceed

The US Supreme Court has allowed President Donald Trump’s discriminatory ban on transgender military personnel to take effect.

On Tuesday, the court granted the government’s request to lift a preliminary injunction that had blocked the enforcement of Trump’s 27 January executive order, which barred trans people from enlisting or continuing to serve openly in the military.

In March, Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation secured a nationwide preliminary injunction to halt the trans military ban while the courts considered the case’s merits.

Tuesday’s ruling allows the administration’s policy to be implemented immediately, even as ongoing legal challenges continue. The case is expected to eventually return to the Supreme Court for a final decision.

“Done with That Shit”: Defence Secretary’s Controversial Remarks

In a video posted on X on Tuesday, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth made crude and hateful inflammatory comments, stating:

“No more pronouns, no more climate change obsessions, no more emergency vaccine mandates, no more dudes in dresses. We are done with that shit.”

According to the US Department of Defense, more than 4,000 transgender individuals currently serve in the military, although the actual number is likely higher.

Rights Groups Condemn Supreme Court Decision

LGBTQ+ advocacy organisations condemned the court’s ruling, calling it a serious setback for transgender service members.

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a devastating blow to transgender servicemembers who have demonstrated their capabilities and commitment to our nation’s defence,” said the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF) and Lambda Legal in a joint statement.

The organisations filed a federal lawsuit in February challenging the constitutionality of the Trump administration’s ban.

“By allowing this discriminatory ban to take effect while our challenge continues, the Court has temporarily sanctioned a policy that has nothing to do with military readiness and everything to do with prejudice,” they added.

A “Betrayal of American Heroes”

The Modern Military Association of America, which represents LGBTQ+ military personnel and veterans, expressed its “shock and devastation” at the Supreme Court’s decision.

“Thousands of transgender Americans have served openly for almost 10 years with honour, courage, and effectiveness. By disregarding their service records and ignoring all recent rulings that found the ban discriminatory, unjust, and lacking basis, our nation’s highest court has betrayed American heroes,” said the organisation.

It added that the court was “greenlighting a policy that indiscriminately bans all transgender people from current or future service without argument or a chance to present the overwhelming evidence of their capabilities—and without the ability to continue to serve the country while their cases work their way through the courts.”

A War Against Trans Identities

The military ban is part of a broader and sustained attack on the transgender community by the Trump administration, which has declared that US policy now recognises only two genders: male and female.

The administration has also ceased recognising changes to gender markers on identity documents, waged a campaign against the inclusion of transgender people in sport, and committed to erasing transgender identities from government policies, regulations, and official forms.

HRCF and Lambda Legal vowed to continue to fight for the rights of trans military personnel. “Transgender individuals meet the same standards and demonstrate the same values as all who serve. We remain steadfast in our belief that this ban violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and will ultimately be struck down,” said the groups.