WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes has issued a temporary injunction on the Trump administration’s efforts to remove military members afflicted with gender dysphoria from the U.S. Armed Forces, claiming the order “stigmatizes” so-called “transgender” individuals.
“Service members who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria are disqualified from military service,” explained a Pentagon memo last month implementing President Donald Trump’s executive order on the subject. “Service members who have a history of cross-sex hormone [use] or a history of sex reassignment or genital reconstruction surgery … for gender dysphoria or in pursuit of a sex transition, are disqualified from military service.” Waivers will considered on a case-by-case basis, “provided there is a compelling Government interest.”
Reyes, a lesbian hailed by activists in 2023 as the first “openly LGBTQ” federal judge for the District in Columbia, issued a 79-page opinion Tuesday, indefinitely blocked enforcement of the executive order, claiming it violated the Constitution’s equal protection guarantees without adequate studies to establish the policy was “substantially related to military readiness and unit cohesion.”
“The Military Ban is soaked in animus and dripping with pretext,” Reyes declares. “Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes [so-called] transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact.”
The duration of the injunction is indefinite, and the Trump administration has until March 21 to file an emergency stay.
“District court judges have now decided they are in command of the Armed Forces… is there no end to this madness?” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller responded. Last month, the Justice Department filed a judicial misconduct complaint against Reyes, accusing her of disrespecting a DOJ attorney and questioning him about his religious beliefs.
In the first Trump administration, former Secretary of Defense James Mattis led a review which concluded, based on “extensive study by senior uniformed and civilian leaders, including combat veterans,” that troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria presented “considerable risk to military effectiveness and lethality,”
Reyes found the Mattis findings too uncertain for her tastes and said it did not suffice to justify the current policy because no subsequent review was conducted of “transgender” military service allowed by the Biden administration.
In his first month back in office, Trump began the reversal of past presidents’ politicization of the military by reinstating soldiers who had been discharged over COVID shots with their former ranks, back pay, and benefits; and by ordering the elimination of “Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion” (DEI) programs from the military and discharge of service members afflicted with gender confusion. The administration also banned LGBT and “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) flags from being flown at U.S. embassies and other State Department facilities, and ended observation of all identity-based “cultural awareness” months, including LGBT Pride Month.