Supreme Court Allows Trump-Era Ban on Transgender Military Service to Take Effect

“For the sake of our Nation and the patriotic Americans who volunteer to serve it, military service must be reserved for those mentally and physically fit for duty,” the Trump order added. “The Armed Forces must adhere to high mental and physical health standards to ensure our military can deploy, fight, and win, including in austere conditions and without the benefit of routine medical treatment or special provisions.”

The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to enforce a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. The court’s decision, which broke down along ideological lines, paused a lower court order that had blocked the Department of Defense rule from going into effect. The rule, introduced by the Trump administration, reverses a Biden administration policy that allowed trans-identifying persons to serve in the military.

The policy change is based on a Department of Defense memo that states individuals with gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service. The memo emphasizes the importance of maintaining high standards for service member readiness, lethality, cohesion, and integrity. The court’s liberal bloc, consisting of Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented from the decision, while the conservative bloc sided with the Trump administration.

The ban on transgender military service is a reversal of the Obama-era guidance that permitted individuals who identify as the opposite sex to serve. Former President Biden had overturned the Trump administration’s policy in 2021, allowing trans-identifying individuals to serve. However, Trump reinstated the ban in his first month in office, citing concerns about military readiness and cohesion. The Supreme Court’s decision allows the ban to take effect while legal challenges continue.