\n
![](\"http:\/\/assets2.hrc.org\/images\/made\/images\/remote\/https_assets2.hrc.org\/files\/images\/blog\/Gavel-1600x900_640_360.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLambda Legal Challenge to Military Trans Ban on Course to Proceed to Trial<\/b>
\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to putting the capriciousness and cruelty of this discriminatory ban against transgender people on trial, where it can be relegated for good to the trash heap of history, alongside other vile military policies that discriminated based on race, sex<\/a>, and sexual orientation.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n A federal court in Seattle rejected the Trump Administration\u2019s claim that its \u201cnew\u201d discriminatory plan to ban transgender people from serving openly in the U.S. Armed Services passes muster.\u00a0 Instead, the court found that the implementation plan the Administration issued in late March was not a new policy but rather threatens the very same constitutional violations and that the lawsuit brought by Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN can proceed to trial. Furthermore, the court also found that the effort to ban transgender people from military service must meet the most demanding level of scrutiny because it so clearly targets transgender people. Meanwhile, the preliminary injunction the court previously granted remains in place, preventing the implementation of the ban pending trial.<\/p>\n \u201cThe court wants to expose this bigoted ban for all of its ugliness at trial, and we are happy to oblige. If it\u2019s a full record the judge wants, then it\u2019s a full record we will give her,\u201d Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Natalie Nardecchia said. \u201cWe look forward to putting the capriciousness and cruelty of this discriminatory ban against transgender people on trial, where it can be relegated for good to the trash heap of history, alongside other vile military policies that discriminated based on race, sex<\/a>, and sexual orientation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUntil the ban is put on trial, transgender people serving or wishing to serve in the military are protected by four separate court injunctions barring its implementation,\u201d Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Peter Renn added. \u201cIf history is any prediction of the future, the ban is still doomed at its next reckoning.\u201d<\/p>\n Today\u2019s ruling came in response to several motions argued late last month before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. While the judge did not grant the Motion for Summary Judgment requested by Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN, the court also rejected the Trump Administration\u2019s Motion to Dismiss President Trump from the lawsuit.<\/p>\n \u201cI remain resolute,\u201d Staff Sergeant Cathrine (\u201cKatie\u201d) Schmid said. \u201cI will continue to perform my duties as I always have. Being transgender has no impact on my ability to perform those duties, and I look forward to demonstrating that, both in court and at my unit every day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201dWhile it does not grant the ultimate relief\u2014a judgment without trial\u2014the court\u2019s decision gets us well on the way to defeating this ban,\u201d OutServe-SLDN Legal Director Peter Perkowski said. \u201cSignificantly, the court rejected the government\u2019s position that last month\u2019s announcement was a \u2018new policy,\u2019 it kept the preliminary injunction in place, and set a high bar for the government to prevail. We remain confident that the facts presented at trial will prove determinative and we can finally put this discriminatory and harmful ban out of our misery.\u201d<\/p>\n In the lawsuit, Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN represent nine individual plaintiffs and three organizational plaintiffs. The individual plaintiffs, all of whom are transgender, include:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Staff Sergeant Cathrine (\u201cKatie\u201d) Schmid<\/strong>, a 33-year-old woman<\/a> and 12-year member of the U.S. Army currently serving in Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, who has applied to become an Army Warrant Officer;<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Petty Officer Terece Lewis<\/strong>, a 33-year-old woman<\/a> and 14-year member of the U.S. Navy serving on the U.S.S. John C. Stennis out of Bremerton, Washington;<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Chief Warrant Officer Lindsey Muller<\/strong>, a 36-year-old woman<\/a> and 17-year member of the U.S. Army serving at Camp Humphreys in South Korea;<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Petty Officer Second Class Phillip Stephens<\/strong>, a 30-year-old man<\/a> and five-year member of the U.S. Navy serving at Eglin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Florida;<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Petty Officer Second Class Megan Winters<\/strong>, a 29-year-old woman<\/a> and five-year member of the U.S. Navy serving in the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C.;<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ryan Karnoski<\/strong>, a 23-year-old Seattle man<\/a> who currently works as a social worker and wishes to become an officer doing social work for the military;<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Conner Callahan<\/strong>, a 29-year-old man<\/a> who currently works in law enforcement in North Carolina;<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Drew Layne<\/strong>, a recent high-school graduate from Corpus Christi, Texas, who is 17 years old and, with parental support, wants to join the Air Force; and<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A\u00a0ninth individual<\/strong>\u00a0currently serving in the military who remains anonymous.<\/p>\n The organizational plaintiffs are the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Seattle-based Gender Justice League, and the American Military Partner Association (AMPA), who joined the lawsuit on behalf of their transgender members harmed by the ban. The case has also been joined by the state of Washington.<\/p>\n In October, a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, D.C., granted a preliminary injunction in a similar lawsuit challenging the transgender military service ban filed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). In November, a U.S. District Court judge in Maryland granted a preliminary injunction in a case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. And, in December, in addition to the ruling out of Seattle, a U.S. District Court judge in California granted a preliminary injunction in a case filed by Equality California, also joined by NCLR and GLAD. The D.C. and Fourth Circuit Courts of Appeals denied the Trump Administration\u2019s efforts to secure stays on open enlistment in the two earlier cases.<\/p>\n The lawsuit is\u00a0Karnoski v. Trump<\/em>. Read today ruling here:\u00a0www.lambdalegal.org\/in-court\/legal-docs\/karnoski_wa_20180413_opinion<\/a>. Read more about the case here:\u00a0www.lambdalegal.org\/in-court\/cases\/karnoski-v-trump<\/a><\/p>\n The Lambda Legal attorneys working on the case are: Peter Renn, Camilla B. Taylor, Tara Borelli, Natalie Nardecchia, Sasha Buchert, Kara Ingelhart, and Carl Charles. They are joined by co-counsel Peter Perkowski of OutServe-SLDN. Also on the legal team are pro-bono co-counsel at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Newman Du Wors LLP.<\/p>\n Statements from Organizational Plaintiffs:<\/strong><\/p>\n “The upcoming trial will only serve to further demonstrate that this impulsively tweeted ban is fueled by nothing more than the president’s personal prejudices,” said\u00a0HRC National Press Secretary Sarah McBride. “Transgender people are serving with distinction and enlisting with bravery this very moment and there continues to be no legitimate rationale to change that. We continue to stand with all transgender service members and enlistees in this fight — and we thank our attorneys at Lambda Legal and Outserve-SLDN for their tireless work.”<\/p>\n “We are confident that justice will prevail as the unconscionable Trump-Pence transgender military ban is weighed against the facts in court,” said\u00a0American Military Partner Association President Ashley Broadway-Mack. “Our transgender service members are serving our nation with pride, and it’s time that Donald Trump and Mike Pence abandon their vicious assault and begin supporting them as the brave American heroes they are. No administration can claim to truly support our military while singling out some service members for blatant and unfounded discrimination just because of who they are.”<\/p>\n www.hrc.org\/blog\/lambda-legal-challenge-to-military-trans-ban-to-proceed-to-trial1?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lambda Legal Challenge to Military Trans Ban on Course to Proceed to Trial \u201cWe look forward to putting the capriciousness and cruelty of this discriminatory ban against transgender people on trial, where it can be relegated for good to the trash heap of history, alongside other vile military policies that discriminated based on race, sex<\/a>, … Continue reading Lambda Legal Challenge to Military Trans Ban on Course to Proceed to Trial<\/span>