The U.S. Supreme Court has just delivered a crushing blow to transgender Americans serving in the military. In a 6–3 decision issued Tuesday, the Court granted the Trump administration’s request to immediately enforce its sweeping ban on transgender military service. The unsigned order allows the Pentagon to begin discharging service members with a diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria and block future enlistments.
This decision follows Executive Order 14183, pushed forward by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The order expels all transgender service members, regardless of their record or performance. It also stays a previous nationwide injunction in Commander Emily Shilling et al. v. United States, allowing the policy to take effect even as legal challenges continue. Commander Emily “Hawking” Shilling, a decorated Navy aviator who has flown over 60 missions, is one of the plaintiffs.
Civil rights groups argue the administration’s actions are rooted in bigotry, not national security. In a joint statement, Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation condemned the decision as a devastating blow that “has nothing to do with military readiness and everything to do with prejudice.” Lambda Legal’s CEO Kevin Jennings told The Advocate,
