FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Lauren Gray, Communications Director, NCLR lgray@nclrights.org / (215) 983-3099
Amanda Johnston, Director of Public Affairs & Education, GLAD ajohnston@glad.org / (617) 417-7769
Maryland Federal Court Judge Agrees with Doe v. Trump in New Ruling and Issues Second Preliminary Injunction Halting Transgender Military Ban
Ruling Brings Us One Step Closer to a Permanent End to This Nightmare for Transgender Servicemembers, Their Families, and Those Trying to Enlist
(WASHINGTON, D.C., November 21, 2017)—Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued a preliminary injunction in Stone v. Trump, a case brought by the ACLU challenging Trump’s transgender military ban. The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) released the following statement about this new ruling, which affirms the nationwide preliminary injunction issued in NCLR and GLAD’s case Doe v. Trump on October 30:
“Today’s ruling brings more hope to transgender service members and those who want to serve,” said NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter. “The court agreed with the legal analysis in Doe v. Trump, which enjoined the ban in October, and held that President Trump’s ban violates the requirement of equal protection, causes serious harms both to our nation’s military and to transgender people, and serve no legitimate purpose whatsoever. Every court that rules against the ban brings us closer and closer to a permanent end to this nightmare.”
“Today’s ruling reiterates the clear and powerful reasoning in Judge Kollar-Kotelly’s decision last month to preliminarily halt the ban,” said Jennifer Levi, Director of GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project. “Two federal courts now agree that President Trump’s ban is unconstitutional, unfounded, and needlessly attacks brave transgender service members who put their lives on the line every day for our country. This decision brings us one step closer to stopping the transgender military ban for good.”
In Doe v. Trump, NCLR and GLAD argued that Trump’s ban, first announced in a series of tweets, is irresponsible and discriminatory because qualified and able transgender Americans who wish to enlist have been barred from doing so and transgender service members have been demeaned and stigmatized, denied health care, and faced with the prospect of discharge and the loss of their professions, livelihoods, health care, and the post-military retirement they have worked hard to earn. On October 30, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Kollar-Kotelly granted NCLR and GLAD’s motion for a nationwide preliminary injunction.
NCLR and GLAD have been at the center of the legal fight challenging President Trump’s military ban since filing Doe v. Trump, the first of four cases filed against the ban, on August 9.
The two organizations are also co-counsel in a second suit challenging the ban, Stockman v. Trump, brought by Equality California. Oral argument in Stockman v. Trump is scheduled for Monday, December 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders works in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation. www.GLAD.org
The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. www.NCLRights.org
