The lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 brought in response to President Trump\u2019s formal issuance of directions to military authorities late Friday<\/a> \u2014 was filed on behalf of two individuals who seek to join the military; one current service member who seeks appointment as an officer; the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation\u2019s largest LGBT advocacy organization; and Gender Justice League, a gender and sexuality civil and human rights organization, headquartered in Seattle.<\/p>\n \u201cThis ban not only wrongfully prevents patriotic, talented Americans from serving, it also compromises the safety and security of our country,\u201d Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Peter Renn said.<\/p>\n Says the group in the complaint<\/a>: \u201cDripping with animus, the Ban and the current accessions bar violate the equal protection and due process guarantees of the Fifth Amendment and the free speech guarantee of the First Amendment. They are unsupported by any compelling, important, or even rational justification.\u201d<\/p>\n BREAKING: We just sued @realDonaldTrump<\/a> over his #TransMilitaryBan<\/a>. See you in court, Mr. President. #LGBTQ<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/eo8wT4XtQO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Lambda Legal (@LambdaLegal) August 28, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Read the complaint HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n Towleroad\u2019s Ari Ezra Waldman explained why the ban is unconstutional in a column earlier this month<\/a>:<\/p>\n As\u00a0I argued last month<\/a>, this policy is unconstitutional and is a direct violation of Title VII, which protects individuals from sex<\/a> based harassment in the workplace, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees that all persons will be treated equally.<\/p>\n This proposed policy, if implemented using Trump\u2019s guidelines, would create a system that treats transgender service members unequally under the guise of\u00a0\u201cdeployability<\/a>.\u201d This means that Defense Department will consider whether transgender persons can serve in a war zone, participate in exercises, live<\/a> for months on a ship, and\u00a0won\u2019t require medical attention or medication<\/a>. Because the new policy will discontinue\u00a0Department of Defense Instruction 1300.28<\/a>, which allowed transgender service members to transition while serving and allowed them to seek medical coverage for transitioning, it easy to see how very few transgender persons currently serving could qualify as \u201cdeployable\u201d under these terms.<\/p>\n There is still\u00a0zero evidence<\/a>\u00a0that medical costs of transgender service members are onerous. There is zero evidence that open service by transgender individuals hurts unit cohesion. There can be only one rationale for Trump\u2019s transgender ban: animus.\u00a0Several courts have held that discrimination based on gender-identity is discrimination based on sex<\/a>: for example, failure to promote a woman<\/a> because she acts too masculine, not feminine enough, or not according to traditional gender norms is discrimination that only a woman<\/a>, because of her biological sex<\/a>, would face. Such discrimination is \u201cdiscrimination on the basis of sex<\/a>.\u201d Trump\u2019s transgender ban is, therefore, discrimination on the basis of sex<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read his full column HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post Lambda Legal Sues Donald Trump Over Transgender Military Ban<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n