A federal judge, Ana Reyes, has imposed a temporary block on President Trump's executive order to ban transgender individuals from military service, asserting that it likely infringes on constitutional rights. The order, which Trump signed shortly after resuming office, suggested that transgender identities conflict with military values. Reyes emphasized the sacrifices made by transgender service members and criticized the ban as insulting. Her ruling provides a temporary legal shield for trans personnel against dismissal while the case unfolds in court, reinforcing the need for government checks and balances.
Just days after returning to the White House, Trump signed the executive order, in which he claimed transgender service members' identities 'conflict with a soldier's commitment to an honourable, truthful and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life'.
Judge Ana Reyes, who has previously ripped into Trump's 'ridiculous' anti-LGBTQ+ executive orders, said the 'cruel irony' was that 'thousands of transgender service members have sacrificed - some risking their lives - to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the military ban seeks to deny them'.
Her ruling is a nationwide preliminary injunction, which will temporarily halt implementation of the ban, protecting trans service members from being fired while it is being decided in the courts.
'Judicial overreach is no less pernicious than executive overreach', she went on to say, but it was the responsibility of each branch of government to provide checks and balances for the others.
Collection
[
|
...
]