Back in 2016, which feels like a hundred years ago now, Trump promised to be a great ally to the LGBTQ community. Shortly after winning the presidency, that promise ended up in the same trash heap as Mexico paying for the wall and healthcare that covers every American.
On Friday, the Trump administration requested that the Supreme Court immediately review the policy, which has been blocked by district courts. The request would keep the ban from being tried in appellate courts.
According to CNN:
‘The policy, first announced by the President in July 2017 via Twitter and later officially released by Secretary of Defense James Mattis, blocks individuals who suffer from a condition known as gender dysphoria from serving with limited exceptions. It also specifies that individuals without the condition can serve but only if they do so according to the sex they were assigned at birth.’
#BREAKING: Trump Asks Supreme Court to Intervene Now and Implement the #Transgender #Military Ban—Even Though Four Federal Courts Have Blocked It. Trump Administration quietly files petitions for cert before judgment over holiday weekend. Read more: https://t.co/ntUyUPSuFi
— National Center for Lesbian Rights (@NCLRights) November 23, 2018
Trump’s Solicitor General Noel Francisco asked the Supreme Court to hear three cases on an emergency basis, including the military ban, citizenship questions on the 2020 census, and a policy to end the DACA program. He argues that trans people in the military are so dangerous, the case must be heard immediately.
‘He writes because of the injunctions, “the military has been forced to maintain that prior policy for nearly a year” despite a determination by Mattis and a panel of experts that the “prior policy, adopted by (Defense Secretary Ash Carter), posed too great a risk to military effectiveness and lethality.”‘
Trump Administration Attempts To Circumvent Appeals Courts On Proposed Trans Military Ban https://t.co/wH0rb45Ag9 : via @instinctmag pic.twitter.com/nfWMoFYT0c
— bɹǝʇ ɟnɔʞ!ʇoן (@crewislife) November 23, 2018
While the courts have protected transgender soldiers thus far, Trump’s additions to the Supreme Court may make that impossible.
‘Francisco has moved aggressively at times to get cases before a Supreme Court that is more solidly conservative with the addition of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.’
While you were enjoying your holiday weekend, @USOPM, which oversees all federal employees, deleted all of its online guidance about how to respect transgender workers. Trump's erasure of LGBTQ protections continues: https://t.co/BmQXB5GcTX
— Zack Ford (@ZackFord) November 23, 2018
While Trump has said repeatedly that he supports the military more than any other president, that support only extends to some members.
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
