Federal court rules Trump illegally banned trans people from the militaryhttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/06/federal-court-rules-illegally-banned-trans-people-from-the-military/ 🔗Alex Bollinger (1 June 2026)
A federal court ruled against Donald Trump's transgender military ban earlier today.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled 2-1 in Talbott v. USA that the ban on transgender people serving openly in the military is a policy designed to target a group of people based on their gender identity, upholding a March 2025 ruling from out federal Judge Ana Reyes that the policy likely violates the Constitution.
The ruling does not mean that trans people will be allowed to join the military again since the Supreme Court ruled last year that the ban could be implemented while the lawsuits against it work their way through the legal system.
Judge Robert Wilkins, a Barack Obama-appointee, wrote for the court that the ban "appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender." Wilkins was joined by Bill Clinton-appointee, the AP reports.
Judge Justin Walker, who was appointed by Donald Trump, dissented, arguing that judges have "neither the expertise nor the authority" to determine who can join the military.
"The cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed – some risking their lives – to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the military ban seeks to deny them," Reyes, a Joe Biden appointee, wrote.
