In an unsigned order released on Tuesday, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority lifted an injunction from a lower court that had previously blocked the ban from being implemented.
The order noted that the court’s liberal Justices — Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson — wished to refuse the request to lift this injunction.
Since taking office for a second term on January 20, President Donald Trump has been seeking to limit rights of and visibility for trans people in the US, including via restriction on military service.
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order affirming recognition of only “two sexes, male and female.” He also overturned an order by predecessor Joe Biden that allowed trans troops to serve in the military.
On January 27, a new directive titled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” was presented. It likened being trans to having a “false” gender identity, considering it incompatible with the “rigorous standards necessary for military service.”
Equating a trans individual’s gender assertion and falsehood, it deemed this nonconforming to the “humility and selflessness required of a service member.”
This directive triggered numerous legal challenges, including the one at issue in Tuesday’s Supreme Court order.
Seven active-duty service members, as well as a civil rights group and another potential recruit, argued in their case that the ban based on their trans identity was both discriminatory and unconstitutional.
Supporters of these service members highlight their achievements, noting that together they have earned over 70 medals for their service. Commander Emily Shilling, the primary plaintiff, had spent nearly two decades in the Navy, completing 60 combat missions. Her legal team estimated that her training has cost almost $20m.
The Trump administration has contended that trans service members represent a risk for the military.
Following the Supreme Court order, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt proclaimed this on social media as “another MASSIVE victory in the Supreme Court!” stating President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are reinstating a military “focused on readiness and lethality.”
This is not the first time Trump has sought to bar trans individuals from the armed forces. In July 2017, he proclaimed a similar policy on social media platform X, stating the U.S. would not accept or permit trans individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.
Similarly, in 2019, the Supreme Court permitted that ban to take effect. In 2021, Biden’s executive order nullified it.
The Trump administration pointed to its previous wins in the Supreme Court to support its emergency request to lift the lower court’s injunction blocking its latest trans troop ban.
This temporary injunction was the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma, Washington. A former army captain, Settle, a Bush appointee, issued the injunction in March stating the ban lacked “any evidence” it related to military matters and that government’s arguments were “not persuasive.”
Judge Ana Reyes also issued an injunction in Washington, DC, where 14 trans service members sued over Trump’s ban, citing the right to equal protection enshrined in the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.
Currently, the U.S. military estimates that fewer than 1 percent of its 2.1 million personnel are trans, with one official estimating only about 4,200 trans service members on active duty.
Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation have been among those groups supporting trans service members against Trump’s ban. They released a joint statement denouncing the court’s decision, remaining driven in their belief that the ban is unjust and bound to be overturned.
“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 but is driven by prejudice,” their statement read.
