Court Clears Trump Policy Barring Transgender Troops

In a split decision on Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender individuals serving in the military to take effect while ongoing legal challenges continue. This ruling puts thousands of active-duty service members in jeopardy of being discharged.

The decision, opposed by the Court’s three liberal justices, marks a significant triumph for President Trump, who has made the reversal of transgender rights a central issue in his second term. He has frequently criticized judges who have thwarted parts of his agenda.

Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the organizations behind the lawsuit that previously led to a lower court’s temporary block on the ban, strongly condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling.

In a statement, the groups called the decision “a devastating blow” to transgender service members, highlighting their dedication and valuable contributions to the nation’s defense.

“Transgender individuals meet the same standards and demonstrate the same values as all who serve. We remain steadfast in our belief that this ban violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and will ultimately be struck down,” they said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt hailed the ruling as “another MASSIVE victory in the Supreme Court,” saying in a post on X that Trump and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth “are restoring a military that is focused on readiness and lethality — not DEI or woke gender ideology.”

Hegseth meanwhile responded to the news with a post on his personal X account that said: “No More Trans @ DoD.”

In a January 27 executive order, Trump stated that “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”

In late February, the Pentagon issued a directive stating that it would begin removing transgender service members unless they are granted a waiver on an individual basis. Additionally, the memo outlined restrictions that would prevent transgender individuals from joining the military altogether.

The Supreme Court’s decision to allow the ban to go into effect means that thousands of currently serving transgender personnel could face dismissal from their roles.

The Pentagon’s policy specifically targets individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria—there were 4,240 such service members as of late 2024, according to a senior defense official—along with those who have a history of the condition or exhibit symptoms of it.

Over recent years, transgender Americans have experienced fluctuating policies regarding their military service. Democratic administrations, including that of former President Barack Obama, sought to allow transgender individuals to serve openly, while the Trump administration has worked to bar their inclusion.

In 2016, during Obama’s second term, the U.S. military lifted its longstanding ban on transgender service members. The new policy allowed those already serving to do so openly, and it was set to permit the recruitment of transgender individuals starting July 1, 2017. However, the Trump administration delayed the implementation of this policy until 2018, before ultimately deciding to revoke it entirely.

Africa Today News, New York