Equality California Commends the Second Preliminary Injunction Halting Transgender Military Ban

Los Angeles, November 21, 2017 —Today, Equality California applauded U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis in the District of Maryland as he issued a preliminary injunction in Stone v. Trump, a case brought by the ACLU challenging Trump's transgender military ban. This new ruling affirms the nationwide preliminary injunction issued in Doe v. Trump on October 30.

"Today's ruling is another crucial blow to the Trump Administration's discriminatory ban against transgender service members and those seeking to serve," said Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur. "President Trump's ban violates constitutional protections and causes serious harms both to our nation's military and to transgender Americans. Today's ruling brings us closer to a permanent end."

In Doe v. Trump, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) argued that Trump's ban, first announced in a series of tweets, is irresponsible and discriminatory because qualified and able transgender Americans who wish to enlist have been barred from doing so. They also argue that transgender service members have been demeaned and stigmatized, denied health care, and faced with the prospect of discharge and the loss of their professions, livelihoods, health care, and the post-military retirement they have worked hard to earn. On October 30, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Kollar-Kotelly granted NCLR and GLAD's motion for a nationwide preliminary injunction.

NCLR and GLAD also are co-counsel in Equality California's suit, Stockman v. Trump, which also challenges the ban. Oral argument in Stockman v. Trump is scheduled for Monday, December 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. 

Equality California is the nation's largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org