Just one week into his presidency, Donald Trump signed a controversial executive order titled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred transgender individuals from enlisting in the military and called for the removal of those already serving.
The move sparked immediate backlash. Two prominent LGBTQ legal organizations filed a lawsuit, and in March 2025, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes temporarily blocked the ban, ruling that it violated the Equal Protection Clause and unjustly targeted transgender Americans.
But the reprieve was short-lived. On May 6, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration, allowing the policy to move forward even as legal battles continued. The administration defended the ban by arguing that gender identity incongruent with biological sex poses a threat to military cohesion and operational readiness.
Human rights organizations—including Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign—swiftly condemned the Supreme Court’s decision, denouncing the ban as discriminatory, politically motivated, and divorced from any genuine concern for military effectiveness. Advocates remain confident the policy will ultimately be struck down.
