Trump urges US Supreme Court to enforce ban on transgender military service – JURIST
US President Donald Trump’s administration urged the US Supreme Court on Thursday to enforce a ban on transgender people serving in the military.
The Trump administration argued that since the ban implicates a medical condition of gender dysphoria, it demands the lowest level of constitutional review, known as rational basis review. The administration then claimed the 2025 policy issued by the Department of Defense meets that standard of review because “gender dysphoria is associated with clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.” The administration compared gender dysphoria to other medical conditions like hypertension and asthma, and not transgender status.
The Trump administration’s argument relied on a 2018 policy, which generally disqualified individuals who experienced gender dysphoria from serving in the military. The policy qualified some limited circumstances, excluding individuals who could “demonstrate 36 consecutive months of stability,” “had not transitioned to the opposite gender,” and “were willing to adhere to all standards associated with their biological sex.”
A federal district court issued an injunction against the ban on March 27, stating the respondents were likely to succeed on their claim that the ban violated the equal protection guarantee of the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution. The respondents, who included seven transgender military members and a transgender individual who wanted to join the military, called the ban “a de facto blanket prohibition on transgender service.”
The Trump administration argued that the district court’s injunction was outweighed by the requisite deference to the Department of Defense’s “professional military judgment.” The department claimed that an injunction was inconsistent with “the best interests of the Military Services” and with “the interests of national security.”
Trump issued an executive order effectively prohibiting transgender people from serving in the military in January, stating that “the Armed Forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology.” Several rights groups then quickly filed lawsuits against the order, claiming the ban “puts our national security at risk.”
US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan requested a response to the application for a stay on the injunction by May 1, 2025.
