President Trump’s apparent intent to reverse the 10-month-old Pentagon policy that allows transgender troops to serve openly is likely to set the stage for a legal battle between the Defense Department and those troops at risk of involuntary separation, legal experts say.
“[We’re going to] raise all holy hell that this is intolerable and say we’re not going to go away quietly on this issue,” said Matt Thorn, executive director of OutServe-SLDN, an organization that represents the transgender community in the U.S. military.
Trump posted a flurry of tweets early Wednesday morning saying transgender people would be barred from serving in the military “in any capacity.” While the tweets themselves have no legal bearing, Trump’s Twitter proclamations likely foreshadow an executive order setting in motion a formal change to the Pentagon’s policy.
But Thorn and others say that ban would violate transgender service members’ civil rights, specifically the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees by any means — including gender identity.
And Thorn says his advocacy group has already identified several potential plaintiffs from among the estimated 7,000 transgender troops on active duty. The group would file a lawsuit almost immediately should a ban be enacted, he said.
However, a quick lawsuit might not lead to a quick decision, warns Greg Greiner, a partner at Tully Rinckey law firm and head of its Military and National Security Law Practice Group.
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-military/2017/07/27/trumps-transgender-ban-will-likely-land-in-court/Like litigation regarding the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, Greiner says that a court case against a transgender military ban would likely drag on for years. But the process could begin soon.
