A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to ban transgender people from serving in the military.
The big picture: “The Military Ban is soaked in animus and dripping with pretext,” wrote U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in a scathing ruling that found the restrictions that were due to take effect this month were a violation of transgender people’s constitutional rights.
- “Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact,” added the Biden-appointed judge in D.C.
- “Thus, even if the Court analyzed the Military Ban under rational basis review, it would fail.”
Driving the news: President Trump signed an executive order in January, which states that the federal government will recognize only two sexes, male and female, and it calls on the Pentagon to formulate a new policy that would target transgender service members.
- A lawsuit challenging the order contends these efforts are unconstitutional.
Where it stands: Reyes issued a preliminary injunction, which she stayed until Friday morning to give the Trump administration time to appeal.
- Representatives for the Trump administration did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment in the evening.
Read the order in full, via DocumentCloud: