A federal court has ruled that the Trump Administration’s trans military ban is illegal. Donald Trump implemented the military ban in January of 2025 as one of his first priorities of his second presidential term. The executive order mandating this change claimed the identities of trans military personnel conflicted with “a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled 2-1 in Talbott v. USA that the ban was imposed to directly target a group of people based on their gender identity. The new ruling upholds a prior ruling from federal Judge Ana Reyes who, in Spring of 2025, stated the new policy likely violated the Constitution, according to LGBTQ Nation.
Earlier this year, the Trump Administration introduced a new military draft, mandatory for American men between the ages of 18 and 25. This draft supposedly includes trans women within that age range, despite the fact that trans personnel were discharged from military service.
Despite the new ruling, trans people will still not be allowed to join or re-join the military as the Supreme Court made a 2025 ruling that the ban could stay in effect until lawsuits against it “work their way through the legal system,” LGBTQ Nation reports. Personnel named in the lawsuit, however, can continue their service.
Judge Robert Wilkins, spoke of the court’s ruling writing that the ban “appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender,” as per AP.
