For your consideration, yet another step in the federal government’s ongoing evil plan to expunge all transgender Americans from the United States military, whether that’s constitutional or not.
Quick backstory, for those who haven’t been following along: Almost immediately upon taking the presidency for a second time, Donald Trump issued an Executive Order declaring that transgender people were liars and scumbags who couldn’t possibly meet our military’s demands for excellency, and would even compromise its strategic readiness. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth began identifying trans troops for separation, and some of those trans troops filed lawsuits for discriminatory firing.
Trump and Hegseth’s attempts to remove all transgender servicemembers has been met with many roadblocks, but most relevant to today’s news is that, in May of 2025, the Supreme Court issued an “emergency” ruling that the Pentagon could fire trans military personnel at will and the legality and constitutionality of that maneuver would simply be decided at a later date, at least in the case of Emily Shilling v. United States. You know, after irreparable harm to those trans Americans’ lives and livelihood had been done.
The Supreme Court issued this ruling via their evil and sinister shadow docket, which is meant to be used for temporary injunctive relief in cases where the court’s failure to act quickly could cause harm to those involved. In essence, the exact opposite of what the Justices use it for these days. That ruling was issued unsigned and without explanation, as all acts of blind justice should be!
Back in June, however, in a separate case—Talbott v. USA—a federal appeals court ruled that the Pentagon’s firing of trans troops was likely unconstitutional and upheld Judge Ana C. Reyes’ 2025 ruling that provided relief for the plaintiffs by stopping the Trump administration from separating them from active duty.
Hooray!
Except, of course, last week the Trump administration decided to kick this up to the Supreme Court again.
Last Friday, Trump’s Justice Department sent a 319-page writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court begging them to tell the lower courts that they ruled erroneously in Talbott v. USA. United States Solicitor Dean John Sauer said that, if the ruling were allowed to stand, it “would represent an unprecedented intervention into military affairs.”
This, he says, would undermine the Supreme Court’s own precedents, which require political deference to “the authority of the federal government to determine who may serve in the Nation’s armed forces,” which he describes as “an issue of exceptional and recurring importance.”
There are also further complications in the case: Back in April, plaintiffs requested that Talbott be expanded to cover every active duty trans servicemember, making the suit a class action case. On June 30, that request was granted, and rulings on Talbott will impact all trans military personnel moving forward, so long as they are on active duty. Notably, this does not directly address the Pentagon’s prohibition on any new trans Americans enlisting.
The future of trans servicemembers’ right to serve remains extremely uncertain. As I’ve said before, I cannot imagine wanting to be a part of the United States military, particularly as a trans American… but I cannot support any decision to exclude trans Americans from the same rights that cisgender Americans enjoy, or the loss of livelihood that many trans servicemembers have experienced in the wake of Trump’s decision to bar us from service.
We’ll know whether the Supreme Court plans to take up this case in the coming months.
