NEW YORK (AP) – Two LGBT-rights organizations filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday challenging President Donald Trump’s tweets declaring he wants a ban on transgender people serving in the military.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington on behalf of five transgender service members with nearly 60 years of combined military service.
Transgender people have been allowed to service openly in the military since June 2016. Trump, in a series of tweets on July 26, announced that he planned to end that policy.
The government “will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military,” he tweeted, contending that their service entailed “tremendous medical costs and disruption.”
The lawsuit, filed by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, says such a ban is unconstitutional, denying transgender service members equal protection and due process.