Trans National Guard member sues Trump admin over bathroom ban

[Jessica_Rose ✅]

Trans National Guard member sues Trump admin over bathroom ban

https://www.advocate.com/news/transgender-woman-sues-trump-restrooms 🔗

Trudy Ring (20 Nov 2025)

A transgender member of the Illinois National Guard is suing the Trump administration over its policy barring trans and intersex federal employees from using restrooms aligned with their gender.

Plaintiff LeAnne Withrow of Springfield, Illinois, is a lead military and family readiness specialist and civilian employee of the Illinois National Guard. She filed a class action suit Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, naming as defendants numerous administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. She is represented by Democracy Forward, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of D.C., and the ACLU of Illinois.

The exclusionary restroom policy violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace, her suit contends. In its 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, the U.S. Supreme Court found that sex discrimination includes discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

Withrow joined the National Guard as a soldier in 2010, serving 13 years, according to the suit. Since then, she has been a civilian employee of the Guard, and she has received honors for her service, including the Illinois National Guard Abraham Lincoln Medal of Freedom. She came out as trans almost a decade ago. Until just a few months ago, she had the right to use the women's restroom at work.