Five transgender members of the U.S. military including Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans sued President Donald Trump on Wednesday, challenging his ban on transgender people serving in the armed forces.

Trump said on Twitter on July 26 that the U.S. government "will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity" in the military, a reversal of Pentagon policy that the lawsuit said was made without consulting senior military commanders.

The surprise announcement, citing healthcare costs and unit disruption, appealed to some in Trump's conservative political base but created uncertainty for thousands of transgender service members, many of whom came out after the Pentagon said in 2016 it would allow transgender people to serve openly.

Trump's tweets appeared to dismiss findings from a RAND Corporation study commissioned by the Pentagon that found allowing transgender people to serve would "cost little and have no significant impact on unit readiness."

The White House did not immediately respond to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

The service members suing the president are three U.S. Army soldiers, one U.S. Air Force airman and one member of the U.S. Coast Guard who are active duty.

All have come out as transgender to their commanding officers but are anonymous in the lawsuit, named only as Jane Doe, for fear of retribution, said Jennifer Levi, a lawyer from GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders. The group filed the lawsuit along with the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it was preparing its own lawsuit.

The lawsuit said Trump's tweets violate the rights of the service members to due process and equal protection under the law. It asks the court to declare Trump's directive as unconstitutional and to issue injunctions to stop it.

The defendants are listed as Trump, Defense Secretary James Mattis and other military leaders including Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dunford said in a memo a day after Trump's tweets that there would be no change in policy until Mattis received an official order from the president.

That order has yet to be issued.

"In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect," Dunford said.

Lawyer Levi said the plaintiffs, some of whom are near retirement, need not wait for an official policy because the tweets alone created uncertainty about their futures. </s> WASHINGTON — Five transgender people serving in the United States military sued President Trump and top Pentagon officials on Wednesday, asking that transgender troops be allowed to stay in the military.

The lawsuit was filed in response to Mr. Trump’s ban abruptly announced last month on Twitter.

The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit under pseudonyms — “Jane Doe” Nos. 1-5 — in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The case was organized by two rights groups, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, or GLAD.

Other rights groups — like Lambda, Outserve and the American Civil Liberties Union — have also said they are preparing lawsuits but are holding off until the Trump administration takes a step to put the ban into effect, such as issuing formal guidance to the military or beginning the process of changing military rules.

But Shannon Minter, the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said he believed the case was already ripe for a lawsuit because active transgender service members — such as those deciding whether to re-enlist — were already being harmed by the uncertainty created by Mr. Trump’s statements on Twitter. </s> WASHINGTON -- Five members of the U.S. armed forces filed a lawsuit Wednesday against President Donald Trump and top military brass, seeking to stop them from banning transgender people from serving "in any capacity."

With the lawsuit, which seeks to prevent the president from reversing a policy put in place by President Barack Obama's administration, a federal judge is once again being asked to referee a clash in the country's escalating culture war. Since Trump took office in January, the administration has engaged in legal battles over shifts in policy involving immigration and gay rights.

The service members, who are suing anonymously, are already members of the Army, Air Force and Coast Guard. They say they disclosed their gender orientation relying on the existing policy that permits them to serve openly.

The shift announced July 26 by Trump on Twitter violates the U.S. Constitution, the service members said in a complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington. The change hasn't been implemented.

[PRESIDENT TRUMP: Timeline, appointments, executive orders + guide to actions in first 200 days]

"We do not comment on active or pending litigation," the White House press office said in an email. Defense Department spokesman Dana White said in a statement that the Pentagon is still awaiting formal guidance from the White House.

U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr., who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a named defendant in the case, previously acknowledged the uncertainty engendered by the president's announcement.

"I know there are questions about yesterday's announcement on the transgender policy by the president," Dunford said July 27. "There will be no modifications to the current policy until the president's direction has been received by the secretary of defense and the secretary has issued implementation guidance."

The lead plaintiff, who identifies herself as Jane Doe 1, has submitted a prospective letter of resignation to the Coast Guard, stating she'd rather walk away voluntarily than be terminated because of her gender, according to the complaint. Doe 1 said she would withdraw the resignation if the administration abandoned its plan.

Three other Jane Doe plaintiffs serve in the U.S. Army, including Doe 3, who has already served in Afghanistan and "expects to be deployed to Iraq soon," according to the filing. The fifth plaintiff is a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran who has served two tours of duty in Iraq.

"Jane Doe 5's livelihood depends on her military service. Separation from the military would have devastating financial and emotional consequences for her," according to the complaint.

Trump's contemplated reversal would violate the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection and has no rational basis, the plaintiffs allege. It would also deprive them of their military careers without due process, according to the lawsuit.

Treatment of transgender people has become a flash point as social conservatives in some states push to require students and sometimes adults to use school and public restrooms corresponding to their gender at birth.

In three tweets last month, Trump outlined his reasoning for reversing the Obama policy on transgender individuals in the military.

"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on the decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you," he said in his tweets.

The Military Times pointed out that the cost of providing Viagra to members of the armed forces is at least 10 times the costs associated with gender reassignment.

The service members' lawsuit was filed by attorneys from the Washington-based WilmerHale law firm, Boston-based Foley Hoag LLP and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Also named as defendants are Secretary of Defense James Mattis, acting Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy and Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson.

"Besides the harm to the service members and people who want to enlist, what's most upsetting about this is for the transgender kids out there in society, for their president to say that they are inherently a disruption, that they shouldn't be able to serve," said Jon Davidson, a director of the advocacy group Lambda Legal, which isn't involved in the service members' lawsuit. "That's a terrible message to be sending to young people."

Information for this article was contributed by Erik Larson of Bloomberg News. </s> WASHINGTON: Five transgender women in the US military are suing President Donald Trump and the Pentagon over Trump's recent announcement he would reinstate a ban on transgender people serving in uniform.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Wednesday (Aug 9), the five plaintiffs from the Air Force, Coast Guard and the Army said they faced uncertainty about their futures, including whether they would be fired or lose post-military and retirement benefits.

In a series of three tweets last month, Trump upended an Obama-era policy of more than a year that allowed transgender troops to serve openly.

His announcement came with little or no coordination with the Pentagon and landed while Defence Secretary Jim Mattis was on vacation, leaving the astonished department scrambling to come up with a coherent response.

The lawsuit was filed against Trump, Mattis and various other senior military officials by the National Centre for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLAAD, a legal advocacy group.

All the unidentified "Jane Doe" plaintiffs were previously men who have transitioned to being female.

"Trump's directive to exclude transgender people from military service has created a tidal wave of harms that have already been felt throughout our armed services," NCLR legal director Shannon Minter said.

"Transgender service members have been blindsided by this shift and are scrambling to deal with what it means for their futures and their families."

The lawsuit asserts that reinstating the transgender ban is unconstitutional.

The number of transgender troops among America's 1.3 million active duty service members is small, with estimates ranging from between 1,320 and 15,000.

On Jun 30, 2016, then defence secretary Ash Carter said the military could no longer discharge or deny re-enlistment to troops based solely on their gender identity.

That means transgender troops who were encouraged to come out under one administration now face getting booted under another - a potential legal quagmire for the Pentagon.

In the two weeks since Trump's tweets, the White House has still not provided the Pentagon with clear directives on how it should implement a transgender ban, so the current policy remains in place for now.

A Pentagon spokesman said he could not comment on pending litigation. </s> In this Aug. 3, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. AP Photo

Two LGBT-rights organizations filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday challenging President Donald Trump's tweets declaring he wants a ban on transgender people serving in the military.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington on behalf of five transgender service members with nearly 60 years of combined military service.

Transgender people have been allowed to service openly in the military since June 2016. Trump, in a series of tweets on July 26, announced that he planned to end that policy.

The government "will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military," he tweeted, contending that their service entailed "tremendous medical costs and disruption."

The lawsuit, filed by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, says such a ban is unconstitutional, denying transgender service members equal protection and due process.

Dozens hold "Resist" signs near a Times Square military recruitment center to show their anger at Trump's decision to reinstate a ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military on July 26, 2017, in New York. Spencer Platt / Getty Images file

Lawyers handling the lawsuit said they hoped the court would move swiftly to prevent a ban from taking effect, given the uncertainty that transgender service members now face in regard to their livelihoods and retirement benefits.

"The damage is happening now," said Jennifer Levi, Director of GLAD's Transgender Rights Project. "These service members were told in June 2016 they could come out and continue to openly serve."

The five plaintiffs — who were not identified in the lawsuit — serve in the Air Force, the Coast Guard and the Army. Their years of service range from three years to two decades, and include tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Pentagon had no immediate comment.

Named in the suit, along with Trump, are Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other national security officials.

When Trump first tweeted his plan, Dunford said the military would not act on the tweets until a formal order to do so was issued by the president, who is also the commander-in-chief of the military. But a team of military lawyers has been pulled together to figure out how to handle the matter.

The American Civil Liberties Union says it told the White House on Tuesday that it intends to sue, and requested that relevant documents be preserved in preparation for the lawsuit. </s> Two LGBT organizations have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump over his recently announced decision to reinstate a ban on transgender individuals openly serving in the U.S. armed forces.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights and the GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders filed the suit on Wednesday in district court on behalf of five transgender military personnel.

"Execution of the president's directive will result in an end to service by openly transgender service members and has already resulted in immediate, concrete injury to Plaintiffs by unsettling and destabilizing plaintiffs' reasonable expectation of continued service," the complaint claims.

"The directive to reinstate a ban on open service by transgender people violates both the Equal Protection component of the Fifth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution," the lawsuit states.

NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter said in a statement that Trump's ban "has created a tidal wave of harms that have already been felt throughout our armed services."

"Transgender service members have been blindsided by this shift and are scrambling to deal with what it means for their futures and their families," Minter argued.

Last year, former President Barack Obama began a policy to gradually allow for transgendered individuals to openly serve in the military and for taxpayers to pay for their gender reassignment surgeries and related medical treatments.

While transgender military personnel were allowed to serve openly with the new policy, Obama had delayed implementation of allowing transgender people to enlist until July 1, 2017.

Top generals requested a delay in that policy, which was approved by Secretary of Defense James Mattis on June 30. The new deadline was set for Jan. 1, 2018.

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Paul Selva told the Senate Armed Services Committee in July that the new measures could have "unintended consequences."

"Our decision to delay the accessions of transgender individuals into the services was largely based on a disagreement on the science of how mental healthcare and hormone therapy for transgender individuals would help solve their medical issues that are associated with gender dysphoria," Selva said.

In late July, Trump posted a series of statements on Twitter saying that he was reversing the Obama-era policy.

"After consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow ... transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military," Trump tweeted.

"[Our military] cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail."

In response, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sent a message to military leadership clarifying that Trump's Twitter posts do not change their current policies.

"I know there are questions about yesterday's announcement on the transgender policy by the president," Dunford said, as reported by Politico.

"There will be no modifications to the current policy until the president's direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the secretary has issued implementation guidance."

Until official means are made to change the policy, Dunford added, "we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect." </s> (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday ordered a lower court judge to reconsider her ruling against U.S. President Donald Trump’s restrictions on transgender people serving in the military, a policy that had already been allowed to go into effect by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set aside a decision by a federal judge in Seattle, Washington, which said Trump’s policy likely violated the constitutional rights of transgender recruits and service members.

The three-judge appeals court panel said a request by the administration to lift an injunction issued by U.S. Judge Marsha Pechman must be reconsidered because an outright ban on transgender troops that Trump had announced in 2017 had been revised by a 2018 policy crafted by then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. The new policy was “significantly different,” the panel said.

In January, the Supreme Court lifted lower court injunctions blocking the transgender policy on constitutional grounds from going into effect while challenges to its legality continued in lower courts.

The high court did not resolve the underlying question of the legality of the Republican president’s plan, which reversed the landmark 2016 policy of his Democratic predecessor, President Barack Obama, to let transgender people serve openly in the armed forces for the first time and to receive medical care to transition genders. </s> Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.

A U.S. appeals court handed President Donald Trump a victory in his effort to ban most transgender people from the military, ordering a judge to reconsider her ruling against the policy, which the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed to take effect. 



The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday set aside a ruling by U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle, which had said the ban likely violated the constitutional rights of transgender service members and recruits.

Without ruling on the merits, a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based appeals court said Pechman did not give the military's judgment enough deference, and ordered her to give it more.That finding could strengthen Trump's position, though the government still had the burden of justifying his policy.Sharon McGowan, legal director of Lambda Legal, which represents opponents of the ban, said she believed the decision foreshadowed the eventual "vindication of the constitutional right of the transgender service members who have been harmed by this policy."Pechman is one of four federal judges to rule against Trump's policy toward transgender military personnel.In January, the Supreme Court, which has a 5-4 conservative majority, lifted lower court injunctions against the policy, while allowing legal challenges to continue.Kelly Laco, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said that agency will continue defending the ban, which lets the Pentagon "continue implementing a personnel policy it determined necessary to best defend our nation."Trump, a Republican, announced the transgender ban in July 2017, saying the military needed to focus on "decisive and overwhelming victory" without being burdened by the "tremendous medical costs and disruption" of having transgender personnel.The move marked an about-face from a landmark policy announced in 2016 by Democratic President Barack Obama, which let transgender people serve without fear of being discharged, and receive medical care to transition genders.In March 2018, Trump backed a revised policy from then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that disqualified most transgender people with a history of gender dysphoria from military service, and people who have undergone gender transition steps.Medical experts define gender dysphoria as distress from the internal conflict between physical gender and gender identity.The policy also allowed those military personnel diagnosed with gender dysphoria under Obama's policy to serve according to their gender identity.In April 2018, Pechman extended her injunction to the revised policy, finding no evidence that transgender troops reduced the military's effectiveness, and saying the ban undermined the dignity of those troops.On Friday, the appeals court said the revised policy "discriminates on the basis of transgender status" but was nevertheless "significantly different" from the 2017 ban."On the current record," the court said, "a presumption of deference is owed, because the 2018 policy appears to have been the product of independent military judgment."The government, nevertheless, still bore the burden of showing the policy significantly furthered its important interests, "and that is not a trivial burden," the court added. Friday's decision related to an August 2017 lawsuit by current and aspiring Army and Navy personnel, including one stationed overseas with nearly 20 years of experience. Washington state later joined the plaintiffs.

Now is the time to join the news event of the year - The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference! 

For more information and to sign up, click here>> </s> (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court handed President Donald Trump a victory in his effort to ban most transgender people from the military, ordering a judge to reconsider her ruling against the policy, which the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed to take effect.

Demonstrators gather to protest U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that he plans to reinstate a ban on transgender individuals from serving in any capacity in the U.S. military, at the White House in Washington, U.S. July 26, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC12D641E1E0

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday set aside a ruling by U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle, which had said the ban likely violated the constitutional rights of transgender service members and recruits.

Without ruling on the merits, a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based appeals court said Pechman did not give the military’s judgment enough deference, and ordered her to give it more.

That finding could strengthen Trump’s position, though the government still had the burden of justifying his policy.

Sharon McGowan, legal director of Lambda Legal, which represents opponents of the ban, said she believed the decision foreshadowed the eventual “vindication of the constitutional right of the transgender service members who have been harmed by this policy.”

Pechman is one of four federal judges to rule against Trump’s policy toward transgender military personnel.

In January, the Supreme Court, which has a 5-4 conservative majority, lifted lower court injunctions against the policy, while allowing legal challenges to continue.

Kelly Laco, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said that agency will continue defending the ban, which lets the Pentagon “continue implementing a personnel policy it determined necessary to best defend our nation.”

Trump, a Republican, announced the transgender ban in July 2017, saying the military needed to focus on “decisive and overwhelming victory” without being burdened by the “tremendous medical costs and disruption” of having transgender personnel.

The move marked an about-face from a landmark policy announced in 2016 by Democratic President Barack Obama, which let transgender people serve without fear of being discharged, and receive medical care to transition genders.

In March 2018, Trump backed a revised policy from then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that disqualified most transgender people with a history of gender dysphoria from military service, and people who have undergone gender transition steps.

Medical experts define gender dysphoria as distress from the internal conflict between physical gender and gender identity.

The policy also allowed those military personnel diagnosed with gender dysphoria under Obama’s policy to serve according to their gender identity.

In April 2018, Pechman extended her injunction to the revised policy, finding no evidence that transgender troops reduced the military’s effectiveness, and saying the ban undermined the dignity of those troops.

On Friday, the appeals court said the revised policy “discriminates on the basis of transgender status” but was nevertheless “significantly different” from the 2017 ban.

“On the current record,” the court said, “a presumption of deference is owed, because the 2018 policy appears to have been the product of independent military judgment.”

The government, nevertheless, still bore the burden of showing the policy significantly furthered its important interests, “and that is not a trivial burden,” the court added.

Friday’s decision related to an August 2017 lawsuit by current and aspiring Army and Navy personnel, including one stationed overseas with nearly 20 years of experience. Washington state later joined the plaintiffs.
Five transgender United States military personnel sue President Donald Trump and top Pentagon officials over the President's policy change announced late last month banning transgender people from serving in the military. The suit asks the court to prevent the ban from going into effect.