On Tuesday, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to begin implementing its ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, even as the policy remains under review in the lower courts.
The justices granted an emergency request from the administration to lift a nationwide injunction that had previously blocked the enforcement of the policy. The decision, which did not include an explanation from the Court, permits the ban to take effect temporarily until legal challenges are resolved. Justices Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the ruling but did not submit written opinions.
The policy originated on President Trump’s first day in office through an executive order that reversed a regulation from the Biden administration permitting transgender individuals to serve openly. A follow-up order issued a week later argued that “the adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful and disciplined lifestyle.”
In its official announcement of the policy, the administration stated: “It is the policy of the United States Government to establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity.” It further asserted that the policy was incompatible with “the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria,” as well as with “shifting pronoun usage or use of pronouns that inaccurately reflect an individual’s sex.”
The Pentagon began carrying out the order in February, mandating sex-based segregation in locker rooms and other sensitive areas and instructing each military branch to prepare plans for discharging transgender personnel, reports National Review.
Seven service members—including a naval aviator with nearly two decades of service—filed a lawsuit against the administration, supported by advocacy groups Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a devastating blow to transgender service members who have demonstrated their capabilities and commitment to our nation’s defense,” the two groups said in a joint statement. They added that the policy “has nothing to do with military readiness and everything to do with prejudice.”
According to a 2016 analysis by the Palm Center based on Pentagon data, approximately 1 percent of active-duty personnel identify as transgender. At the time, 8,980 active-duty service members and 5,727 reservists identified as such.
The military was never designed or intended as a platform for psychological therapy treatments. Sexual identity dysphoria is an easily-identifiable mental disorder, and clearly renders those debilitating conditions as unfit for military service. Sadly, it takes judicial involvement to use “common sense” in such a fundamental requirement. Only a democrat could possibly take issue with these basic parameters for our National fighting forces.