Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, with a coalition of 20 state attorneys general, is today standing with transgender military members targeted by the Trump administration’s executive order banning transgender Americans from serving in the military.
Raoul and the coalition today filed an amicus brief to support a lawsuit aiming to block the implementation of the order. The attorneys general argue that the executive order is unconstitutional, harms national security and discriminates against transgender people honorably serving in our nation’s military, including the National Guard in every state. The brief supports a request for a preliminary injunction filed by a group of current and prospective transgender service members.
“The president’s order attempting to implement a transgender military service ban is misguided and discriminatory,” Raoul said. “Transgender individuals have honorably served in all branches of our military, serving alongside fellow Americans from different backgrounds and different corners of our country. My office has consistently advocated for the rights of transgender individuals, and I will continue to partner with attorneys general across the country to protect these rights.”
In their brief, Raoul and the coalition argue that President Trump’s executive order purporting to ban transgender people from serving in the military violates the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. The order would also weaken our military, harm state emergency and disaster preparedness, deprive the military of experienced and qualified soldiers during an extremely challenging time for recruitment and engage in discrimination in violation of state laws protecting transgender individuals’ right to participate fully in society.
Transgender people have served in the military for years. A 2014 study found that approximately 150,000 veterans, active-duty servicemembers, and members of the National Guard or Reserves identified as transgender. In fact, transgender individuals are about twice as likely to have served in the military as cisgender individuals. But the executive order would require the military to discharge transgender members and turn away potential recruits solely because they identify as transgender. After the first, longstanding ban was lifted in 2016, and again when the Trump Administration’s first attempt to ban transgender service was reversed in 2021, some transgender National Guard members came out to their superiors and peers with no negative impact on the Guard’s functions.
Following comprehensive reviews, the military has already twice concluded that allowing transgender individuals to serve consistent with their gender identity is in the nation’s best interest. Reinstating the ban simply cannot be justified by reference to costs, unit cohesion or overall readiness.
Joining Attorney General Raoul in filing the amicus brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
