Transgender Merced veteran reacts to fed court ruling on Trump’s military ban
A federal judge in Washington on Monday barred President Donald Trump’s administration from excluding transgender people from military service.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that transgender service members who had sued over Trump’s policy were likely to win their lawsuit. She directed a return to the situation that existed before Trump announced his new policy this summer.
Trump had ordered a return to the policy in place before June 2016, under which transgender individuals were barred from joining the military and service members could be discharged for being transgender. Under President Barack Obama, that policy was changed to allow transgender service members.
Jamie Bradley, a 62-year-old transgender woman from Merced, praised the court’s ruling Monday.
“I think that’s a wonderful thing,” Bradley said. “That’s fabulous. I don’t know if that will be the end of it, but I guess we’ll see.”
Bradley was in the coast guard for 20 years and the U.S. Army for three years.
Bradley said she wasn’t surprised by the federal judge’s ruling, because “I think there is enough information that’s been out there already about transgender people serving.”
The Trump administration may appeal Kollar-Kotelly’s decision, but for now, the proposed ban remains unenforceable.
“We disagree with the court’s ruling and are currently evaluating the next steps,” said Justice Department spokeswoman Lauren Ehrsam.
She reiterated the department’s view that the lawsuit was premature because the Pentagon was still in the process of reviewing how the transgender policy might evolve.
One of the attorneys handling the lawsuit, Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said the ruling was an enormous relief to his clients.
“Their lives have been devastated since Trump first tweeted he was reinstating the ban,” Minter said. “They are now able to serve on equal terms with everyone else.”
Trump announced on Twitter in July that “the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” He followed with an August memo directing the Pentagon to extend indefinitely a ban on transgender individuals joining the military, and gave Defense Secretary Jim Mattis six months to come up with a policy on “how to address” those who are currently serving.
Under the Obama administration, the Department of Defense had announced in 2016 that service members could not be discharged solely based on their gender identity. Transgender individuals were to be allowed to enlist in the military effective Jan. 1, 2018.
Minter said the new court ruling means they will be able to do that.
The Trump administration had asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit; Kollar-Kotelly refused to do so
Other lawsuits challenging president’s directive have been filed in Seattle and Baltimore.
It’s been a long journey for LGBTQ people being accepted in society, Bradley said, and “I think we have a long time to go until people will understand and accept transgender people.”
The Sun-Star’s Monica Velez contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 30, 2017 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Transgender Merced veteran reacts to fed court ruling on Trump’s military ban."