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Trump's new executive order is discriminatory, unconstitutional, and harmful to military readiness, the organizations say.
Two LGBTQ+ civil rights organizations, the Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal, have announced plans to sue the Trump administration over its newly signed executive order effectively banning transgender Americans from military service. The order, signed by Donald Trump late Monday night aboard Air Force One, represents a sweeping rollback of policies allowing transgender people to serve openly and is expected to impact both current service members and future enlistees.
HRC and Lambda Legal described the order as discriminatory, unconstitutional, and harmful to military readiness. “Our military service members, including thousands of transgender troops, wear the same uniform, take the same oath, and meet the same rigorous standards. They are heroes who put their lives on the line to protect our country — and we owe them all a debt of gratitude,” said Sarah Warbelow, HRC’s vice president of legal. She added that the measure “insults their service and puts our national security at risk,” while needlessly disrupting the lives of families who have already sacrificed for the nation.
The directive has drawn criticism for undermining military readiness by expelling highly trained personnel. Lambda Legal counsel Sasha Buchert called the move “particularly dangerous and wrong,” emphasizing that the group will “sue to block this action.”
Navy Commander Emily Shilling, a decorated fighter pilot with nearly two decades of service, shared her frustration with the policy. “I just want to continue serving, using the skills this nation invested in me as a fighter pilot and leader,” Shilling, who has flown 60 combat missions and accrued more than 1,700 hours in high-performance jets, said in her personal capacity. She called for the opportunity to keep contributing to the military, describing her service as guided by “honor, courage, and dedication.” Schilling is also the president of SPARTA, an advocacy group that represents thousands of transgender active duty and reserve troops.
Buchert noted the policy’s broader implications, arguing that it is rooted in bias and misinformation. “Thousands of current service members are transgender, and many have been serving openly, courageously, and successfully in the U.S. military for more than eight years,” Buchert said. She accused the administration of targeting a vulnerable population with “political opportunism and demonstrably untrue ‘alternative facts.’”
The pending legal matter follows a similar court battle in the 2017 case Karnoski v. Trump when HRC and Lambda Legal successfully blocked the first Trump administration’s initial attempt to ban transgender military service members.
