Trump’s ban on trans service members reignites a legal fight that wasn’t settled during his first term

President Donald Trump’s decision on Monday to reprise a ban on transgender Americans serving in the military will reignite a legal fight over the controversial effort that was met with pushback by federal courts – but not definitively settled – during his first term.

President Donald Trump’s decision on Monday to reprise a ban on transgender Americans serving in the military will reignite a legal fight over the controversial effort that was met with pushback by federal courts – but not definitively settled – during his first term. The executive order signed by Trump reinstates a similar ban he issued in 2017 that drew at least four lawsuits arguing the prohibition represented an unconstitutional form of sex discrimination. LGBTQ advocates have vowed to take Trump back to court over the new ban, which they expect to also face skepticism from judges, particularly given how the legal landscape around transgender rights has shifted, they argue, in their favor since the last ban was scrutinized by courts. In the set of cases brought during Trump’s first term, federal district courts across the nation temporarily blocked the ban from taking effect. Judges from Washington, DC, to Washington state said that it violated the constitutional rights of transgender people. The Supreme Court, however, let the ban take effect in 2019, but did not rule on whether it was constitutional before President Joe Biden reversed it in 2021. “In 2017, every single federal district court that heard a challenge agreed it was unconstitutional,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which brought some of the challenges to Trump’s first ban. “And since that time, the case law holding that discrimination against a person because of their transgender status is unlawful has only become stronger.”