Judge blocks Trump order banning transgender people from military service

Nick Rondoletto, left, and Doug Thorogood, a couple from San Francisco, wave a rainbow flag and hold a sign against a proposed ban of transgendered people in the military at a protest in the Castro District in San Francisco (AP Photo/Olga R. Rodriguez, File)

A federal judge has blocked US president Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from military service.

US District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington DC ruled that Mr Trump’s order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights.

She delayed her order by three days to give the administration time to appeal.

The judge issued a preliminary injunction requested by attorneys for six transgender people who are active-duty service members and two others seeking to join the military.

On January 27, Mr Trump signed an executive order that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life” and is harmful to military readiness.

In response to the order, defence secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that presumptively disqualifies people with gender dysphoria from military service.

Gender dysphoria is the distress that a person feels because their assigned gender and gender identity do not match. The medical condition has been linked to depression and suicidal thoughts.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys contend Mr Trump’s order violates transgender people’s rights to equal protection under the Fifth Amendment.

Government lawyers argue that military officials have broad discretion to decide how to assign and deploy service members without judicial interference.

Thousands of transgender people serve in the military, but they represent less than 1% of the total number of active-duty service members.