Supreme Court Allows Trump’s Anti-Trans Military Ban To Go Into Effect

A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court today grants the Trump administration immediate authority to start enforcing a ban on transgender troops serving in the military that had been blocked by lower courts while challenges to the ban move forward. The decision allows the Defense Department to begin discharging service members with a diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria and to prohibit enlistment to transgender Americans. This is hideous…

BREAKING: The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration’s transgender military ban to take effect. [image or embed]

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney.bsky.social) May 6, 2025 at 11:05 AM

The unsigned order, issued over the dissent of the court’s three liberal justices, lifts a nationwide preliminary injunction and marks a devastating blow to thousands of currently serving troops. Lower courts had determined the ban violates equal protection guarantees and is driven by anti-transgender animus, not military necessity. From The Advocate:

The ban, authorized under Executive Order 14183 and implemented by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, mandates the expulsion of all transgender service members regardless of performance or qualifications, and blocks any future enlistment.

The order issued Tuesday stays a March 27 nationwide preliminary injunction in Commander Emily Shilling et al. v. United States, allowing the policy to take effect immediately while appeals continue in the Ninth Circuit and potentially at the Supreme Court.

In an absolutely devastating ruling, the Supreme Court has allowed the transgender military ban to go into effect.

This is shocking – the ban explicitly called transgender people dishonorable for being transgender. It is as clear as day soaked in animus. www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docke… [image or embed] — Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) May 6, 2025 at 11:28 AM

More from Erin In The Morning:

The policy brands transgender people as inherently “dishonorable” and “undisciplined” for no reason other than their gender identity.

With the high court’s decision, the administration now has license to purge transgender service members—an alarming signal that the Supreme Court may be willing to overlook constitutional protections for trans people in future cases.

Master Sgt. Logan Ireland (lead photo) is one of many trans military service members seeking protection from administrative hearings to block his removal from the Air Force.