Department of Justice

Judge Blocks Trump's Trans Ban

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly bashes the transphobic ban.

By  
on

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

A U.S. District Judge blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to effectuate bigotry through executive order.

This feels like the 1,580th time I’ve written this post.

Today, it’s the trans ban on the chopping block. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly blocked implementation of Trump’s blanket ban against transgender people serving in the military. From Bloomberg:

“There is absolutely no support for the claim that the ongoing service of transgender people would have any negative effect on the military at all,” the judge wrote. “In fact, there is considerable evidence that it is the discharge and banning of such individuals that would have such effects.”…

“As a class, transgender individuals have suffered, and continue to suffer, severe persecution and discrimination,” the judge wrote. “Despite this discrimination, the court is aware of no argument or evidence suggesting that being transgender in any way limits one’s ability to contribute to society.”

Like the various iterations of the Muslim ban before it, the key problem with Trump’s trans ban is that THERE IS NO REASON FOR IT. This president and this administration are under the impression that they can do whatever they want through executive order, without explaining why what they want is necessary. The courts have CONSISTENTLY told them that they are wrong. “I don’t like those people” is NOT a valid reason to issue an executive order. How many times do Trump and his lawyers need to be told that before they STOP?

Judge Kollar-Kotelly let stand the part of the order that prevents military health funds from being used in gender reassignment surgery. But everything else now essentially reverts back to the Obama-era policy of “being transphobic is stupid, let’s move on.”

Sponsored

The Department of Justice did not comment, but one can expect that they will appeal. Because the Department of Justice under Trump apparently likes getting its head flushed down the toilet again and again by a judiciary that is clearly not having any of their bigotry.

Once again, Trump’s own tweets seem to have been used against him. In addition to pointing out that there were “no facts” to support the claim that transgender individuals are unable to serve in the military, Judge Kollar-Kotelly also noted the “unusual circumstances” surrounding the announcement of the ban. Again, Trump’s intent to ban transgender people for no reason can be divined from his Twitter account. Actual legal reasons are not part of his Twitter account, or his executive order.

This isn’t the end of the trans ban, of course. Not only will the DOJ likely appeal, but it’s also possible the Trump administration will just try again to ban transgender people, with some more “legalese” thrown in as an intellectually dishonest attempt to placate the court.

The entire Trump administration is a “stress test” for our Constitution. So far, it’s barely holding up.

Trump’s Ban on Transgender Soldiers Is Blocked by U.S. Judge [Bloomberg News]

Sponsored

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

Topics

, , , , ,