Two transgender service members are suing the Trump administration over a pair of executive orders targeting transgender Americans and their implementation by the U.S. military. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lawsuit filed Monday<\/u><\/a> in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by two transgender men \u2014 Master Sgt. Logan Ireland and Staff Sgt. Nicholas Bear Bade \u2014 argues that President Trump\u2019s executive orders proclaiming the government recognizes only two sexes, male and female, and barring trans people from serving openly in the military subject transgender service members \u201cto unequal, harmful, and demeaning treatment.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ireland and Bade, represented by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, are also challenging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth\u2002<\/u><\/a>and Acting Air Force Secretary Gary Ashworth\u2019s implementation of those orders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Both Ireland and Bade are members of the U.S. Air Force with a combined 20 years of experience, according to court documents, and began their gender transitions more than a decade ago. They have each been placed on administrative absence and told they can only continue serving if they do so according to their birth sex. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is not possible, though, for either Plaintiff to serve as a woman because each one has medically transitioned to be and live as a man,\u201d Monday\u2019s lawsuit states. \u201cAnd given the implementation timeline that the Trump Administration has publicized, both Plaintiffs reasonably fear that, as early as March 26, 2025, involuntary administrative separation proceedings will be initiated against them because of their transgender status.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pentagon, in a Feb. 26 policy memo<\/u><\/a>, directed military leaders to begin identifying transgender service members within 30 days and begin \u201cseparation actions\u201d within 60 days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The memo, like Trump\u2019s Jan. 27 executive order on transgender troops<\/u><\/a>, suggests a history of gender dysphoria \u2014 severe psychological distress that stems from a mismatch between a person\u2019s gender identity and sex at birth \u2014 is incompatible with military service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Military personnel diagnosed with gender dysphoria may be retained \u201con a case-by-case basis,\u201d provided there is a compelling government interest in doing so, the memo said. But service members will have to prove they never took steps to transition genders and demonstrate 36 months of stability living in line with their birth sex \u201cwithout clinically significant distress.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump and administration officials have sought to equate trans identity with deception and cast transgender people in the armed forces as a threat to military readiness and unit cohesion. \u201cA man\u2019s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member,\u201d Trump\u2019s executive order<\/u><\/a> states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n