Springfield – One day after President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for a ban on transgender people from the military, legal proponents and defenders of GLBTQ and the National Lesbian Rights Center sued the Government.
Filed at the end of January, the case was the first Demand to challenge the ban, according to Associated Press.
One of the main attorneys is Jennifer Levi, a senior director of Transgender and Queer rights a Professor of Law In the Western New England University.
“This is such a convincing case, because the members of the service they represent have fulfilled all rigorous standards of army service,” said Levi. “There is no justification that the military has advanced to explain why someone who fulfills these rigorous standards cannot continue (serve).”
A federal judge has it Since it was blocked The execution of Trump’s order, but the matter is not resolved in the long term, as demands and attractiveness of the federal government occur.
On January 27, Trump’s executive order “Prioritizing military excellence and preparation” stated that transgender people are not suitable for serving the army.
“Expressing a false gender identity” divergent from the sex of an individual cannot satisfy the rigorous standards needed for military service, “he said.” The assertion of a man who is a woman and his requirement that others honor this falsity is not consistent with the humility and selflessness needed for a service member. ”
Order is directed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to update policies.
Levi and lawyers from other companies filed the demand on behalf of six transgender service members and two inactive members who wanted to reappear. More claimants have come together since then.
Levi said that the ban has been devastating for transgender services. He said that a person he heard was withdrawn from an active combat area and left on administrative leave.
“They are people who have put their lives on the line, some of them for decades, to protect the values and principles on which our country is located,” said Levi.
Includes claimants such as Nicolas Talbott, a second army lieutenant. Talbott, 31, is assigned to army reserves in Pennsylvania, according to the complaint.
“When you get uniform, the differences fall and what matters is your ability to do the job,” Talbott said in a statement. “My transgender being has no relation to my dedication to the mission, my commitment to my unit or my ability to perform my functions according to the high standards expected of me and all services.”
In this case of demand, the Judge of the North -American District Ana Reyes in Washington, DC, blocked the order last monthsaying that it probably violates the constitutional rights of the transgender service member. A federal appeal then temporarily brake Reyes’s stay while considering the problem.
Oral arguments are scheduled on Tuesday in the United States Circuit Appeal.
Lawyers from the United States Department of Justice representing the Government did not immediately respond to the request of the Republican Comments on demand and call.
In the case of a similar demand that challenges the Federal Prohibition, a Washington State Judge also blocked the order Last month, a pause that is still in effect. Currently, transgender people are allowed to move forward, said Levi.
The matter could end the country’s highest court.
“It is obviously a topic of national significance,” said Levi. “This administration has been aggressive in its efforts to see the policies applied. It would not be strange to see -to go to the Supreme Court.”
In 2017, cheerful and others sued another ban of transgender people in the army, which the Supreme court In 2019, it was allowed to enter into force while the dresses against him were pending. Joe Biden later reversed the ban.
“This current purge of transgender people is tougher and wider in their breathing,” said Levi.
Levi said that transgender military members would be subject to administrative separation, a process that is usually used for misconduct. It can have a “hard and durable impact even after the discharge,” he said.
Even before Trump’s inauguration, Levi was feeling worries about transgender people about future policies.
“There are thousands of transgender people who serve the army that they should plan navigation through such a hard presidential administration,” said Levi.
Soldiers of the Special forces of the United States face the Turkish border near such Abyad, Syria, in 2019 (Maya Alleruzzo / Associated Press, File)Ap photo/maya alleruzzo
The Department of Defense has estimated that there are about 4,240 transgender people in the United States Army.
In the current “difficult times”, Levi said that his work gives him hope.
“I have a deep and respectful belief in our constitutional democracy,” he said. “I think the founding principles of justice and equality and freedom are strong, and it is in moments of political challenge, that it is even more important to strive to ensure that the promises of freedom and freedom and equality in the Constitution are made by everyone.”