A second federal judge this week blocked the Trump administration order that barred transgender people from the military, calling it unconstitutional, arbitrary and serving no legitimate government interest.
U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis in Baltimore issued a 53-page order that prevents the US military from banning transgender people from joining the military and from withholding money for gender reassignment surgeries. His order applies nationwide.
This decision follows an order in October by a federal judge in Washington, D.C. that partially blocked the order.
President Trump abruptly announced the decision in a string of tweets July 26. Six transgender military members sued in August, along with the ACLU.
The policy of opening the military to transgender people was adopted in June 2016 after a year-long study by the military, which established policies to accomplish it.
Garbis called the Trump policy change, “capricious, arbitrary and unqualified,” saying the “tweet of new policy does not trump the methodical and systematic review by military stakeholders qualified to understand the ramifications of policy change.”
In last month’s order in D.C., Judge Collen Kollar-Kotelly, said the administration had provided no solid evidence for why a ban should be implemented.
Case: Stone v. Trump, No. 17-2459
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