ACLU

ACLU Has Already Sued Trump Over The Trans Ban, Because Everybody Is Ready For His Triflin’ Ass

They don't have perfect plaintiffs, but you fight with the army you've got.

By Elie Mystal on August 28, 2017 2:04 pm

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

While Americans prepared for a devastating hurricane, the President of White America spent time on Friday doing some dirt.

Trump pardoned former sheriff Joe Arpaio. A racist man pardoning a racist man is not all that surprising. The only person who can do anything about the president’s pardon power is Paul Ryan, and we know he is a spineless coward. Whatever.

But Trump also instituted his transgender ban in the military. Trump banned transgender people from joining the military, and ordered Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis to figure out what to do with those already serving over the next six months.

If you don’t pay a lot of attention to foreign policy, Trump’s week sounded something like this: I lied about getting us out of Afghanistan, in fact we need to send more people there. How many? I don’t know. But definitely not any trans people, because eww. Wow, it’s raining a s**t-ton in Texas. I have the greatest storms.

Because Trump has been telegraphing his hate for the trans community for some time, the ACLU was ready for him. Here was their Tweet on Friday.

And then today, Monday, they filed a complaint asking for declaratory and injunctive relief.

The ACLU is partnering with lawyers from Covington & Burling. Apparently the lawyers worked all weekend to prepare the complaint.

You can read the full document here. The ACLU is claiming that Trump is banning trans people for political, not military reasons (and they cite various Trump tweets to support that claim), and they’re hitting up the reliance interests of the transgender individuals who already came out because of the previous administration’s policy.

Feels like a solid argument to me, but you can tell that it is partially based on what Trump said he was going to do, instead of what he actually did.

The ACLU’s plaintiffs are people who have served. These people are undoubtedly hurt by Trump’s policy, and appropriate plaintiffs for a lawsuit against it.

But Trump also prohibited transgender people from enlisting in the military. Which seems like a GIANT equal protection problem right on its face. Trump provides no guidance on how the military is supposed to even identify transgender individuals. Can the recruitment officer ask? Does a would-be soldier have to tell? What happens if a transgender person enlists, and then is later found out to be trans? What happens if a person learns that they’re trans after they enlist?

Trump’s blanket ban on joining the military is probably the weakest part of his policy, constitutionally, at least for the five Supreme Court justices who don’t seem to hate the LGBTQ community. But to bring an action, you need a plaintiff. Right now, the plaintiff able to attack this weak spot doesn’t exist yet.

So… the ACLU will go to war with the army it has. I hope it will be enough, but even if it isn’t, it’s important to remember that this is just the opening salvo. Trump, Pence, and the rest of the Deplorables are on the wrong side of history on this one. They will lose in the end, but it might take some time to get there.

TransBan Complaint [ACLU]