Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—Transgender service members file suit over executive order, (Jan 31, 2025)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

They allege the transgender ban violates the Equal Protection component of the Fifth Amendment.

A group of six transgender service members, along with two who are prospective service members, have filed suit against President Donald Trump, Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth and others alleging that the ban on transgender service members stemming from the President’s January 27, 2025, executive order violates the Equal Protection component of the Fifth Amendment.

Decorated service members. Many of the plaintiffs are longtime, well-decorated servicemembers, including a Major who has been awarded a Bronze Star, and they are joined by two prospective members of the military. They allege that were the prohibition on military service by transgender individuals, contemplated by the President’s Executive Order, to be implemented, they would be unable to pursue their careers through service to the United States people as members of the military. They would also lose income and access to benefits afforded to military members and their families.

Equal protection violation alleged. They allege that, under the Fifth Amendment, the ban discriminates against them based on their sex and their transgender status, without lawful justification, in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s Equal Protection component. “President Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military was issued without any study of the effectiveness of transgender service members during the past four years or of any problems that may have arisen from their service,” they allege, “without any assessment of whether their service entailed greater costs, or without any assessment of whether any legitimate governmental concerns could be addressed by means other than a categorical ban.” Instead, they allege that the “ban reflects animosity toward transgender people because of their transgender status” and the “categorical exclusion of transgender people from military service lacks a rational basis, is arbitrary, and cannot be justified by sufficient federal interests.”

They seek injunctive and other relief.

The lawsuit was filed federal court in the District of Columbia; the case is No. 1:25-cv-240.

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