A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s looming plans to ban transgender service members from serving in the military, an effort that was set to go into effect later this month.
Washington, D.C., U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes didn’t mince words in a ruling issued late Tuesday evening, stating that the Trump administration’s ban on transgender service is “soaked in animus and dripping with pretext.” The judge paused her preliminary injunction in the case until Friday, giving the government time to file an emergency stay.
“Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons
as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact,” Reyes wrote. “Thus, even if the court analyzed the military ban under rational basis review, it would fail.”
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Reyes’ ruling was praised by LGBTQ+ advocates as well as transgender service members who spoke with Military.com.
Col. Bree Fram, an openly transgender Space Force officer who told Military.com on Wednesday she was expressing her personal views and not those of the Department of Defense or the Department of the Air Force, said she appreciated the ruling and pointed out that transgender troops have been meeting military standards.
“Transgender troops are glad that the court noted our service records 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,'” Fram said, recalling Reyes’ words. “We will continue to show that we meet or exceed all standards and look forward to the day where that is no longer questioned and we can continue accomplishing the missions we’ve been assigned.”
Shortly after Trump’s late January executive order aimed at banning transgender service members from the ranks, two LGBTQ+ advocacy groups quickly filed lawsuits representing transgender service members and recruits, Military.com previously reported.
The organizations that filed suit, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, known as GLAD Law, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, issued a news release saying they believed the ruling would withstand the appeals process.
“[Tuesday’s] decisive ruling speaks volumes,” GLAD Law Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights Jennifer Levi said in a news release. “The court’s unambiguous factual findings lay bare how this ban specifically targets and undermines our courageous service members who have committed themselves to defending our nation. Given the court’s clear-eyed assessment, we are confident this ruling will stand strong on appeal.”
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller decried the judge’s decision in a post on the social media platform X.
“District court judges have now decided they are in command of the armed forces. … Is there no end to this madness?” Miller wrote Tuesday.
Reyes, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, had strongly rebuked many arguments made by Justice Department lawyers during oral arguments last month, including asking one government attorney, “You tell me whether this feels discriminatory,” Military.com previously reported.
Trump issued a transgender service ban during his first term, which also was fought in the court system but was ultimately approved by the Supreme Court in 2019. Biden lifted the ban shortly after taking office in 2021.
Trump’s newest executive order during his second term, and Pentagon guidance following it, went even further than his first attempt, which limited new transgender service members from joining and allowed current members to keep serving.
The new policy being rolled out by the Pentagon and administration would separate any service member who has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria or those who have had gender-affirming surgery or hormone therapy. Advocates have previously told Military.com it’s essentially impossible for transgender troops to keep serving under the strict guidelines required to obtain a waiver.
The Pentagon does not directly track troops who identify as transgender, and the estimated number of those in uniform varies greatly. A Rand Corp. study from 2016 indicated as many as 6,000, and one study from the University of California Los Angeles’s Williams Institute claimed upward of 15,000.
“The court’s opinion is long, but its premise is simple,” Reyes wrote. “In the self-evident truth that ‘all people are created equal,’ all means all. Nothing more. And certainly nothing less.”
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