Six active-duty transgender service members are suing President Donald Trump, newly sworn-in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other administration officials following the commander-in-chief’s order that effectively bans trans people from serving in the U.S. military.
The federal lawsuit was filed in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, one day after Trump issued an executive order that opens the door for the Pentagon to remove trans troops by baselessly categorizing their gender identity as a physical and mental impediment to their military service.
“Expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service,” according to Trump’s order. “Beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”
The order claims that “a man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”
Trump is giving the Pentagon 60 days to update its policy on medical standards and 30 days to produce revised guidance on how to implement the president’s order.
“President Trump’s repeated targeting of transgender service members is a stain on our military, one that strikes at the very heart of military standards and core American values,” according to Shannon Minter, legal director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which filed the lawsuit with GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders on behalf of the six service members.
“Left unchecked it could have ripples across all sectors of society,” Minter said.
LGBT+ civil rights groups are expected to file additional litigation against the administration, which is also facing a lawsuit from an incarcerated transgender woman who could lose affirming healthcare and be forced to transfer to a men’s prison under another executive order targeting trans Americans.
The lead plaintiff is Army Reserves Second Lieutenant Nicolas Talbott, a 31-year-old trans man who began receiving affirming healthcare more than 10 years ago.
“Were the prohibition on military service by transgender individuals to be implemented, Lieutenant Talbott would lose the career he has spent years of his life fighting to join, after finally earning his commission, and would be unable to continue to serve the United States people as a member of the military,” according to the complaint.
“Additionally, Lieutenant Talbott would lose his income and access to benefits afforded to military members and their families,” the lawsuit states.
Army Major Erica Vandal, 36, has “served with distinction” for nearly 14 years, and is the recipient of a Bronze Star, a Meritorious Service Medal, an Army Commendation Medal, and two Army Achievement Medals.
She began transitioning within the military in 2022. Since then, she was promoted to the rank of major, among other achievements, according to the complaint.
If she was removed from the military, she would lose benefits “afforded to military members and their families for herself, her spouse, and her two children,” the lawsuit states. “Major Vandal’s family would lose the only source of income for her household.”
There are an estimated 15,000 trans people serving in the nation’s armed forces.
“Transgender Americans have served openly and honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces for nearly a decade,” said SPARTA Pride, which represents trans Americans in the military.
“Thousands of transgender troops are currently serving, and are fully qualified for the positions in which they serve,” filling critical roles in combat arms, aviation, nuclear engineering, law enforcement, and military intelligence, among other fields, the group shared in a statement with The Independent.
“The readiness and physical capabilities of transgender service members is not different from that of other service members,” SPARTA said.
In his first term in office, Trump declared that the U.S. military would no longer “accept or allow” openly trans people enlisting, citing “tremendous medical costs and disruption.” That ban took effect in 2019.
Joe Biden reversed that policy, which was the subject of several lawsuits.
LGBT+ advocacy groups Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign said in a statement that they also intend to sue the administration.
“We have been here before and seven years ago were able to successfully block the earlier administration’s effort to prevent patriotic, talented Americans from serving their country,” Lambda Legal Counsel Sasha Buchert said. “Not only is such a move cruel, it compromises the safety and security of our country and is particularly dangerous and wrong.”