WACO, Texas (KXXV) — President Donald Trump’s executive order, signed on January 27, 2025, not only reinstates his previous ban on transgender military service but also goes further — causing six active-duty transgender service members, along with two former service members seeking re-enlistment, to file the first lawsuit on January 5th.
This lawsuit challenges President Donald Trump’s executive order, which calls for revising the policy on transgender troops and could ultimately lead to a ban on their service in the military.
According to Tara Copp of the Associated Press, Army Capt. Gordon Herrero, one of the six active duty plaintiffs, said in a statement accompanying the lawsuit: “There’s nothing about being transgender that makes me better or worse than any other soldier I serve alongside. We are all here because we are committed to our country, and we are passionate, willing, and able to serve effectively.”
The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) filed a federal lawsuit on January 28 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Trump Administration in response to the order, saying the ban violates equal protection.
There is no official data on the number of transgender personnel in the military, but the number is probably in the thousands, Minter said. Unlike Trump’s initial ban in 2017, the new executive order not only bans all transgender people from serving in the future but also would target those currently serving, Minter said.
Click here for our previous story on the transgender military ban.
