A group of transgender service members and rights groups are filing a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s restrictions on transgender troops in the military. The lawsuit, filed by GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, argues that the new executive order violates the equality guarantees of the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of six active duty transgender service members who would lose access to healthcare and retirement benefits as a result of the executive order. The order, signed by Trump on Monday evening, requires Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to update medical standards to prioritize readiness and lethality and restrict the use of gender identity-based pronouns within the Department of Defense.
The order also restricts sleeping, changing, and bathing facilities by biological sex, and revokes former President Joe Biden’s executive order that allowed for special circumstances to accommodate “gender identity” in the military. The categorical ban on transgender service members was lifted in 2014 under President Barack Obama.
The six plaintiffs, including Army 2nd Lt. Nicolas Talbott, Navy Ensign Dan Danridge, and Army Sgt. 1st Class Kate Cole, argue that being transgender is irrelevant to their service and that they should be able to continue serving without restrictions. The lawsuit seeks to block the implementation of the new order and to ensure that transgender service members are able to continue serving without discrimination.
The move comes as part of a broader campaign by Trump and Hegseth to weed out diversity, equity, and inclusion practices across the military. The estimated 9,000 to 14,000 transgender service members face potential loss of healthcare and retirement benefits as a result of the new order.