The administration of US President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to uphold its policy barring transgender Americans from serving in the military, bringing another major case involving transgender rights before the conservative-leaning court.
The administration is challenging a ruling by a federal court in Washington, DC, which blocked the policy after a group of transgender service members who were already serving in the military sued to prevent their removal.
Shortly after returning to office last year, Trump signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to implement a ban on transgender service members, arguing that allowing them to serve was incompatible with military requirements.
US Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the Supreme Court to intervene, arguing that determining who is qualified to serve in the nation’s armed forces is a matter of significant national importance.
“The authority of the US military to determine who may serve in the nation’s armed forces is a matter of exceptional importance,” Sauer said in the administration’s appeal, according to a copy reviewed by CNN.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide later this year whether it will hear the administration’s appeal. If the justices agree to take up the case, a ruling could come by early summer next year.
According to defense officials, about 4,240 service members across active-duty, reserve and National Guard forces have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The condition refers to psychological distress that may occur when a person’s gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. However, not every transgender person experiences gender dysphoria.
The latest legal battle is part of a series of cases involving transgender rights that have reached the Supreme Court in recent years.
Earlier this year, the court, in a 6-3 decision, upheld state restrictions preventing transgender students from participating on girls’ sports teams.
In another 6-3 ruling last year, the justices allowed a Tennessee law restricting puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors seeking gender transition to remain in effect.
Trump made opposition to transgender-related policies a major part of his 2024 presidential campaign and has since introduced several measures aimed at reversing policies that expanded protections for transgender Americans.
The president also imposed restrictions on transgender military service during his first term in office. However, former President Joe Biden reversed that policy after taking office in 2021.
The military ban previously reached the Supreme Court through an emergency appeal. The justices allowed the administration to enforce the policy while litigation continued, although the court did not provide a detailed explanation for its decision. The three liberal justices publicly dissented.
Since then, however, lower courts have issued rulings challenging or limiting the implementation of the policy.
In June, a divided three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit upheld an order blocking the policy from being applied to 28 transgender service members who had challenged it in court.
Transgender rights advocates have also accused the administration of continuing efforts to remove other transgender personnel from the military.
The Supreme Court’s eventual decision could have significant implications for transgender Americans serving in the US armed forces and for the administration’s broader policies concerning transgender rights.
