Military transgender ban blocked again

A second federal judge has halted the Trump administration’s proposed military transgender ban, finding that active-duty service members are “already suffering harmful consequences” because of the president’s policy.

Tuesday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis in the Maryland case comes just weeks after another judge in Washington blocked the administration’s proposal that would have stopped military recruitment of transgender men and women and possibly forced the dismissal of current service members starting in March.

The preliminary injunction issued by Garbis also goes further than the earlier ruling by also preventing the administration from denying funding for certain medical care.

Garbis said the transgender service members challenging the ban have “demonstrated that they are already suffering harmful consequences such as the cancellation and postponements of surgeries, the stigma of being set apart as inherently unfit, facing the prospect of discharge and inability to commission as an officer, the inability to move forward with long-term medical plans, and the threat to their prospects of obtaining long-term assignments.”

Justice Department lawyers told the court this month that the lawsuit was premature because the policy is on hold pending a review by the Defense Department.