A lawyer involved in the transgender service member suit against the Trump administration intends to ask for a temporary injunction against the ban on transgenders serving in the military.
Although the White House has not officially passed guidance down to the Pentagon regarding the ban, the injunction is still expected to arrive within the next few weeks, The Washington Examiner reports.
If the injunction is granted, Trump would not be able to implement transgender policy while the case is in court, in effect forcing the transgender policy on the same legal trajectory as Trump’s travel ban order.
The lawsuit, filed August 9 by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, came in response to President Donald Trump’s July 26 tweet series that announced an incoming ban on transgenders serving in the military. GLAD and NCLR both believe that the ban is unconstitutional. Specifically, these organizations are alleging that Trump’s announcement violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fifth Amendment.
The five anonymous transgender service members, identified only as “Jane Doe,” belong to the Coast Guard, National Guard, Army and Air Force.
Numerous military leaders have since somewhat subtly pushed back on the announcement, with Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft in particular pledging not to “break faith” with all 13 open transgender members of the Coast Guard.
It’s possible that Secretary of Defense James Mattis will persuade Trump to walk back his remarks, as he has done on other issues like NATO. Mattis stated Monday that the Pentagon is launching a study “to address whether or not transgenders can serve under what conditions, what medical support they require, how much time would they perhaps be non-deployable.” That study will be initiated after the Pentagon receives guidance from the White House, Mattis added.
“I’m going to wait, again, until I get the direction from the White House and then we will study and come up with what the policy should be. … I’m not willing to prejudge what the study will now bring out as a policy,” Mattis said.
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