Identity groups rallying against President Donald Trump’s policy of restricting transgendered people in the United States military are reportedly looking to the Supreme Court to overturn that decision.
Opponents of the policy are poised to file their contrary arguments on Christmas Eve (Monday) to stop the Trump administration’s actions, according to a report published Monday by the Washington Examiner.
People rally to protest the Trump administration’s reported transgender proposal to narrow the definition of gender to male or female at birth, at City Hall in New York City, U.S., Oct. 24, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
The Department of Justice had already asked the Supreme Court to address the transgender policy in an effort to avoid a protracted legal fight in lower courts, where the judiciary was attempting to block the president. Many Democrats in Congress wanted the U.S. defense secretary to simply ignore the policy.
Those opposing the policy are a coalition of transgender military personnel and various advocacy groups. (RELATED: Senior Military Leaders Split With Trump On Transgenders In The Military)
“There is no legal basis for the Supreme Court to take this case before any court of appeals has had a chance to consider the issues, and long before there is a final judgment in any case,” Shannon Minte, a lead attorney for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told the Examiner. “We are hopeful the Supreme Court will follow its usual practice, deny this unsupported petition, and permit these cases to proceed in a normal, orderly fashion.” (RELATED: Taxpayer-Funded Professor: Transgender Ban Is Like ‘Ablest’ Nazi Propaganda)
A man holds up a sign supporting North Carolina’s anti-transgender bathroom law following Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’ campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., Aug. 18, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
If the Supreme Court decides to hear the case during the current session, it could establish the transgender policy before July 2019. In the mean time, Solicitor General Noel Francisco is petitioning the court to end an injunction that has essentially left the transgendered policy stillborn. Francisco wants the court to free the hands of the Department of Defense to apply the policy as envisioned.