President Donald Trump’s effort to exclude transgender individuals from military service adds to a regrettable history of the armed forces barring marginalized persons from the “privilege of serving,” a federal court noted Tuesday night.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued a 79-page judgment blocking the Trump administration from implementing the policy and harshly criticizing the Pentagon’s creation of it.
“The Court’s ruling is lengthy, but the basis is straightforward. In the self-evident reality that all humans are created equal, all implies everything. There’s nothing more. Judge Reyes wrote, “And certainly nothing less.”
The decision comes as part of Talbott vs. Trump, a case brought on Jan. 28 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations Glad Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights on behalf of six active-duty transgender military personnel.
Reyes postponed her ruling until Friday in anticipation of the Trump administration’s appeal, allowing the Department of Justice to seek a stay of her order from a higher court.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised to challenge the decision.
“We are appealing this decision, and we will win,” he wrote.
Following the judge’s decision, 2nd Lt. Nicholas Talbott and Maj. Erica Vandal, both plaintiffs in the complaint, expressed relief and stated they want to continue serving their nation.
“[This preliminary injunction] has provided immense relief for myself and my family, personally, along with the numerous others impacted,” Vandal told the newspaper. “It’s a massive burden lifted knowing that I can continue to provide for my wife and two children, while continuing my career and lifelong passion as a field artillery officer.”
Lt. Talbott, a platoon commander in the United States Army Reserve, described the verdict as a “tremendous step forward” and a “breath of fresh air.”
Transgender service members are just as qualified, capable, and devoted as any other military member, and we are overjoyed to be allowed to continue wearing our uniforms and doing the tasks we have fought so hard for in service of our nation,” Talbott said.
Talbott said that he is “confident” the court will “continue to find that transgender people have no negative bearing on the United States military.”
In a subsequent interview with ABC News Live, Talbott said, “For me, it has been like a great weight is suddenly taken off my shoulders. Now I can concentrate on the task at hand and continue to serve my nation.
According to a Defense Department letter issued last month, the Pentagon must establish a mechanism to identify transgender personnel by March 26 and remove them from the service by June 25, unless an exception is granted. This covers both military members who are getting therapy or hormones for their gender dysphoria diagnosis and those who have had gender-affirming surgery.
According to Reyes, the Trump administration failed to explain the policy by describing its effect on military preparedness, endangering thousands of transgender service members and certainly violating the United States Constitution.
“The President has the authority—and obligation—to assure military preparedness. At times, however, politicians have utilized concerns about military preparedness to deny disadvantaged people the opportunity to serve,” Reyes said.
“[Fill in the blank] is not fully capable and will hinder combat effectiveness; [fill in the blank] will disrupt unit cohesion and so diminish military effectiveness; allowing [fill in the blank] to serve will undermine training, make it impossible to recruit successfully, and disrupt military order,” she claimed. “First minorities, then women in combat, and finally homosexuals filled in the gap. Today, however, our military is stronger, and our country is safer because of the millions of such blanks (and all other individuals) who serve.”
While the judge accepted that the courts should normally defer to military authority, she said that allowing the policy to be implemented would be her “blindly” following the Pentagon, which defended the policy with “pure conjecture” over repeated court sessions.
“The Court understands that this ruling will spark significant public discussion and appeals. In a healthy democracy, both are desirable results. We should all agree, however, that everyone who has responded to the call to serve deserves our appreciation and respect. As Elmer Davis said, ‘[t]his country will remain the land of the free only so long as it remains the home of the courageous.’ The Court expresses gratitude to all active and retired military personnel. “Thank you,” the judge said as she ended her opinion.
On Tuesday night, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said that district court judges had assumed command of the Armed Forces. “Is there no end to this madness?”
During the news conference on Wednesday, lawyers Jennifer Levi and Shannon Minter, who represent the plaintiffs in Talbott against Trump, hailed the preliminary injunction.
Minter expressed optimism that if the case progresses, it would result in a “permanent injunction,” since the “legal basis of the decision is so strong.”
Levi said that, although the Trump administration may request an emergency stay, she is “hopeful” that the court would refuse it.
“We predict that [the Trump administration] will appeal this, and they may seek an emergency stay to get immediate relief. “I hope that doesn’t happen,” Levi stated. “But I think the easier course, really, for the military at this point, is to continue to preserve these people in active service and let them continue to do their jobs.”
Meanwhile, Talbott and Vandal admitted that the conflict was not finished.
“Ultimately, the relief I feel at this time is tempered by the knowledge that this fight is far from over,” Vandal told reporters.
“We are ready, and we are going to continue to show up every single day, put on our uniforms and do the absolute best that we can,” Talbott told reporters.
A military official previously told ABC News that there are already 4,240 active-duty, National Guard, and Reserve service men diagnosed with gender dysphoria.