The first case directly challenging President Trump’s order to ban transgender service members from the military has been filed in federal court.
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday.
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The suit, Talbott v. Trump, accused the president’s order of violating the Constitution’s Equal Protection amendment which guarantees that all Americans will be treated equally under the law. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of six active service members and two individuals seeking enlistment.
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Titled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” the order claims that service by transgender members is in conflict “with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle.”
“The Armed Forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists unconcerned with the requirements of military service like physical and mental health, selflessness, and unit cohesion,” the order states. “The pursuit of military excellence cannot be diluted to accommodate political agendas or other ideologies.”
The order directs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to halt the “use of invented and identification-based pronouns” in the military; prohibit “biological males and females” from sleeping, changing and using bathing facilities intended for the opposite sex; and “update all Department of Defense medical standards to ensure they prioritize readiness and lethality,” among other directives.
One plaintiff in the case, Nicolas Talbott, age 31, is currently serving as a second lieutenant in the Army. They started basic training and officer’s school six months ago.
“When you put on the uniform, differences fall away and what matters is your ability to do the job,” Talbott said in a statement. “Every individual must meet the same objective and rigorous qualifications in order to serve. It has been my dream and my goal to serve my country for as long as I can remember. My being transgender has no bearing on my dedication to the mission, my commitment to my unit, or my ability to perform my duties in accordance with the high standards expected of me and every servicemember.”
When Trump issued his first anti-trans military ban during his first presidential term in 2017, GLAD Law and the NCLR filed the first lawsuit to challenge it in the case of Doe v. Trump. Attorneys in that case, Shannon Minter for NCLR and Jennifer Levi for GLAD Law, now represent the plaintiffs in Talbott v. Trump.
Talbott, then seeking enlistment, was an unnamed plaintiff in one of four cases challenging Trump’s first ban before President Biden overturned it in 2021.
Doe v. Trump was the first case to secure a preliminary injunction stopping the ban from going into effect in October 2017. That injunction lasted until the Supreme Court voted to lift it in 2019 as the lower court cases continued being heard. The high court has yet to hear a case on the merits challenging the constitutionality of a ban on transgender service members.
The Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal both announced Tuesday they will sue to block the renewed ban.
Other plaintiffs in Talbott v. Trump serve across all branches of the military with a major, a captain, a sergeant, and a Navy pilot among them.
“I’ve spent more than half my life in the Army, including combat in Afghanistan,” said Kate Cole, Sergeant First Class in the Army. “Removing qualified transgender soldiers like me means an exodus of experienced personnel who fill key positions and can’t be easily replaced, putting the burden on our fellow soldiers left behind. That’s just wrong — and it destabilizes our armed forces.”
Ensign Dan Danridge, a student flight officer in the Navy, said, “I’ve been military my entire life. I was born on a military base. Every day I lace up my boots the same as everybody else. I pass the same tests as everybody else. Being transgender is irrelevant to my service. What matters is that I can complete the tasks that are critical to our mission.”
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