Susan's Place Transgender Resources

DOJ denies genders of trans servicemembers in court filing filled with "childish name-calling"

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/08/doj-denies-genders-of-trans-servicemembers-in-court-filing-filled-with-childish-name-calling/

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) denies that the transgender servicemembers challenging President Donald Trump's ban on trans people serving openly in the military are the gender they say they are.

On Friday, August 1, the DOJ filed its response to Talbott v. United States. The lawsuit, brought by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) on behalf of trans servicemembers argues that Trump's January 27 executive order banning trans people from serving in the military "discriminates against Plaintiffs based on their sex and based on their transgender status, without lawful justification, in violation of the Equal Protection component of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment."

"Rather than being based on any legitimate governmental purpose, the ban reflects animosity toward transgender people because of their transgender status," the suit argues.

In its Friday filing, the DOJ describes each of the plaintiffs in Talbott v. United States who are trans women as "a male who identifies as a female," while each of the plaintiffs who are trans men is described as "a female who identifies as a male."

"It's difficult for me to understand the defense's statement that I am a female, which contradicts all of my government documentation, such as my license, passport, social security card, and birth certificate," lead plaintiff Nicolas Talbott told The Advocate following the DOJ filing.

This is exactly why the trans community should reject the language of identity—especially gender identity. It frames who we are as a personal choice rather than a fact of our existence. Identity suggests something assumed or adopted, not something innate. But my sex—and therefore my gender—is female. That's not an identity. It's reality.

My sex is an inherent part of who I am—not some nebulous third concept like "gender identity," a term that, in practice, is applied almost exclusively to transgender people, as if our existence must be qualified or explained away.

Eventually, we may well see a Supreme Court case to define the terms 'man', 'woman', 'male, and 'female'. I can only hope that we have a different mix of judges on the bench when that day comes.

Love always -- Jessica Rose