A federal judge in Maryland on Tuesday, Aug. 14, rejected the Trump administration’s effort to shield information it used to implement a ban on transgender people in the military, officials with the ACLU have announced. The ruling came during a hearing on Stone v. Trump, the ACLU’s lawsuit on behalf of a dozen transgender individuals currently serving or wanting to serve in the armed forces.
United States Magistrate Judge A. David Copperthite said that the documents were relevant to the administration’s intent and that “whether [the ban] was for military purposes or whether it was purely for political and discriminatory purposes is at the very heart of this litigation.”
Joshua Block, senior staff attorney with the LGBT & HIV Project, said, “President Trump banned transgender people from serving in the military and then ordered the Department of Defense to come up with pretext to justify that discriminatory decision. [Copperthite’s ruling] makes clear that the Trump administration cannot continue to hide the true reasons behind its crusade to purge transgender people from the military.
“These brave men and women should be able to continue serving their country ably and honorably without being discriminated against by their own commander in chief.”
You can read the order here. For more information on the lawsuit, go here.
