US Supreme Court Allows Temporary Enforcement of Military Transgender Ban Amid Legal Battle

The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily allowed President Donald Trump to enforce his controversial ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, even as legal challenges continue to unfold in the lower courts. The decision, issued through an unsigned order, grants the Trump administration permission to proceed with its policy for now, effectively lifting lower court injunctions that had previously blocked the ban from taking effect.

Shortly after returning to office in January, President Trump signed a pair of executive orders directing the Department of Defense to implement the ban. The orders reversed prior policy and declared that individuals who identify as transgender would be disqualified from military service. The administration argued that allowing transgender people to serve openly would undermine unit cohesion and military readiness.

Trump administration filed an emergency application to the Supreme Court

A federal district court had initially halted the implementation of the ban in March, ruling that the government had failed to present compelling evidence that transgender servicemembers posed any threat to military effectiveness. In response, the Trump administration filed an emergency application to the Supreme Court, urging it to stay the lower court’s injunctions and allow the military to proceed with the policy during ongoing litigation.

In the application, government lawyers emphasized that courts should defer to the military’s expertise in matters of national defense and readiness. They argued that the judiciary should not override the professional judgment of military officials without clear constitutional violations being demonstrated.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority granted the administration’s request, with the three liberal justices—Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor—dissenting. The unsigned order did not provide reasoning for the majority’s decision, as is customary in emergency applications.

Following the Supreme Court’s move, the Pentagon can now move forward with discharging currently serving transgender personnel and denying enlistment to transgender applicants, even as the matter continues to be contested in the courts. The Department of Defense had previously stated in February that it would begin taking such action, prompting immediate legal resistance.

Seven plaintiffs—six active-duty service members and one transgender individual seeking to enlist—filed a lawsuit challenging the ban. The group includes Commander Emily Schilling, a Navy fighter pilot with a distinguished record. The plaintiffs argue that the policy discriminates based on gender identity, violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, and ultimately weakens national security by depriving the military of skilled and committed personnel.

Civil rights organizations, including Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, condemned the Supreme Court’s decision. “This ruling is a devastating blow to the thousands of transgender Americans who proudly serve our country,” the groups said in a joint statement. “Allowing this discriminatory policy to proceed while it is being challenged in court is not about military readiness—it’s about prejudice.”

A federal judge in Washington state had previously issued a nationwide injunction halting the enforcement of the ban, stating the government had not shown how it would improve discipline or cohesion within the military. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that injunction, keeping it in place—until now.

The Supreme Court’s intervention means the injunction is lifted temporarily, pending the outcome of ongoing lawsuits in lower courts.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has pursued a broader policy agenda targeting transgender Americans. In addition to the military ban, Trump signed another executive order limiting federal recognition of gender to the binary categories of “male” and “female,” as assigned at birth. This has had sweeping consequences, especially in areas such as healthcare, identification documents, and education.

In February, the State Department announced it would no longer permit applicants to use “X” as a gender marker on U.S. passports, instead requiring them to select either “male” or “female” according to their birth sex. That policy is currently being challenged in federal court, with the American Civil Liberties Union representing transgender and nonbinary plaintiffs. A federal judge has already issued a preliminary injunction blocking the rule while the case proceeds.

The administration has also backed state-level efforts to ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors and to bar transgender women from participating in women’s sports—measures that have prompted further legal and political battles across the country.