Judge blocks Defense Department policy banning transgender troops

On March 18, District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Defense Department's new policy to remove transgender service members.

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit several active transgender service members filed over President Donald Trump's executive order declaring that transgender service members "cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service," and subsequent Defense Department policies prohibiting from service anyone with a history of gender dysphoria. 

Gender dysphoria is psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one's sex assigned at birth and one's gender identity. Medical experts say not all transgender people experience it. 

The injunction requires the administration to "maintain the status quo of military policy regarding transgender service that existed immediately before" Trump issued his executive order. 

In her opinion, Reyes, described the policy as rushed without careful consideration or the support of evidence.

"The Military Ban is soaked in animus and dripping with pretext," Reyes wrote. "Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact. Thus, even if the Court analyzed the Military Ban under rational basis review, it would fail."

Reyes, a Biden administration appointee, called it "highly unlikely" the ban would survive judicial review for other reasons as well.

The order goes into effect the morning of March 21 unless the U.S. Court of Appeals steps in. For now, we are moving the status of this promise to Stalled.