Ferguson faces off with Trump’s transgender military ban
Mar 27, 2018, 3:09 PM | Updated: 4:04 pm
People with the Human Rights Campaign hold up "equality flags" during a July 2017 event in Washington DC, in support of transgender members of the military. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Washington is fighting President Trump’s transgender military ban in court this week and is claiming an early win Tuesday.
“Judge Pechman was clear today: Because of the injunctions in our case and others, the Trump Administration cannot implement any policy barring transgender individuals from serving in the military,” Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said.
RELATED: All the cases Ferguson has brought against Trump, feds in 2017-18
Washington sued the Trump administration after it attempted to ban transgender individuals from serving in the military last year. Judge Marsha Pechman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington blocked Trump’s policy in December 2017. The injunction was in place as Washington and other plaintiffs tackled the transgender military ban in court.
Transgender military ban case
On Friday, March 23 — ahead of the ban’s first day in court Tuesday — the Trump administration issued a new presidential memorandum, a report from the Department of Defense, and an updated implementation plan. The new ban bars “most” transgender individuals from serving. The administration argued that Friday’s actions were a new ban and were not subject to the injunction. It also claimed that the lawsuit is now moot under the new policy and asked the judge to dissolve the previous ban.
Judge Pechman opted not to hear those arguments Tuesday and said she “won’t immediately consider” the new policy. She said that transgender plaintiffs challenging the ban did not have enough time to consider the new policy. The case continues in court through this week.
“Because of those injunctions, transgender individuals can enlist, serve openly and access medical care,” Ferguson said. “Nothing the federal government has said or done up to this point, including Friday’s developments, changes anything about the unlawful and discriminatory nature of President Trump’s ban, and I look forward to briefing the court fully on those arguments in the next seven days. As I said before: President Trump’s last-minute maneuvering does nothing to save his unlawful and discriminatory policy.”
Ferguson: Trump ban is illegal
After President Trump tweeted that he aimed to ban transgender individuals from military service in July 2017, the administration was sued. Washington state is part of a lawsuit with Lambda Legal and OutServe-SDLN. The state argues that Washington is home to about 33,000 transgender adults, some of whom serve in the military.
“Banning transgender individuals from military service is discriminatory and wrong,” Ferguson said. “President Trump’s last-minute maneuvering does nothing to save his unlawful and discriminatory policy. Regardless of any efforts to confuse the issues and avoid judgment, the President’s transgender military ban is illegal.”
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