Five transgender service members are requesting a judge block the Trump administration from enforcing a policy that bars trans people from serving openly in the military, while a case against the executive action proceeds.
A motion filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asks the court to issue a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement on behalf of the five plaintiffs, each of whom “are currently being subjected to specific adverse treatment,” according to court filings.
It asks the court to shield them from the Pentagon’s policies effectuating Trump’s order, arguing the plaintiffs otherwise face “immediate and irreparable harm.”
Last week, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, another Biden appointee, indefinitely blocked Trump’s order on transgender troops, which she said is “soaked in animus,” from taking effect.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who mocked Reyes on social media following her ruling, said the Pentagon is appealing her decision.
According to the latest court filings, three plaintiffs — Jamie Hash, Vera Wolf and Ashley Davis — were removed from active duty and placed on administrative leave because of the order. Another plaintiff, Hunter Marquez, a cadet at the Air Force Academy set to graduate in May, is now required to comply with standards based on his birth sex and excluded from training with other cadets.
The fifth plaintiff, Samuel Ahearn, has been told he cannot graduate from Officer Candidate School despite meeting the requirements.
Ahearn is instead being held in the Talent Management Group, a designation for officer candidates who don’t meet graduation standards, “based solely on his transgender status,” according to the motion filed by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the law firms Wardenski P.C. and Kropf Moseley.
The Trump administration, according to the plaintiffs’ legal team, “will not suffer any harm if this Court issues a temporary restraining order. A temporary restraining order would simply maintain the status quo in place prior to the issuance of the Military Ban.”
“By contrast, allowing the continued enforcement of the Military Ban brands Plaintiffs as less capable and worthy of enlisting or serving in the Armed Forces solely because of their transgender status and jeopardizes Plaintiffs’ prospects for career advancement by preventing them from performing their duties and making it impossible to meet goals required for advancement,” the motion states. “The balance of equities thus tips sharply in Plaintiffs’ favor.”
The lawsuit comes one day after a federal judge in New Jersey blocked the military from separating two transgender airmen under Trump’s order. U.S. District Judge Christine O’Hearn, an appointee of former President Biden, wrote in the order that the pair “have exemplary service records” and “face severe personal and professional harm absent a preliminary injunction.”
