The Donald Trump administration has asked the United States Supreme Court to uphold its policy barring transgender Americans from serving in the US military, setting up another major legal battle over transgender rights before the conservative-leaning court.
The administration is appealing a ruling by a federal court in Washington, DC, which blocked the policy after a group of transgender service members challenged the ban.
Trump signed an executive order shortly after returning to office in 2025 directing the Pentagon to prevent transgender people from serving in the military, arguing that their service was incompatible with military readiness.
The administration has now asked the Supreme Court to intervene and allow the policy to take full effect.
US Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that determining who is qualified to serve in the armed forces falls within the military’s authority.
“The authority of the US military to determine who may serve in the nation’s armed forces is a matter of exceptional importance,” Sauer told the Supreme Court, according to the administration’s filing.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide in the coming months whether it will hear the administration’s appeal. If the justices agree to take up the case, a ruling could come as early as summer 2027.
The administration’s appeal comes after a divided panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld an injunction protecting 28 transgender service members who challenged the policy.
The legal dispute centres on the administration’s argument that restrictions on transgender military service are justified by military readiness and personnel requirements, while opponents argue that the policy unlawfully discriminates against transgender Americans serving in the armed forces.
Defense officials have said approximately 4,240 service members across active-duty, reserve and National Guard forces have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.
Gender dysphoria refers to psychological distress that can occur when a person’s gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. However, not every transgender person has gender dysphoria.
The case is the latest in a series of major disputes involving transgender rights to reach the Supreme Court, which currently has a 6-3 conservative majority.
Earlier, the court upheld state restrictions on transgender students participating on girls’ sports teams. In another major decision, the justices allowed a Tennessee law restricting puberty blockers and hormone treatments for minors seeking gender transition to remain in effect.
Trump made opposition to policies supporting transgender people a prominent part of his 2024 presidential campaignand introduced several measures after returning to office aimed at reversing protections adopted during previous administrations.
The President had also imposed restrictions on transgender military service during his first term in office. Former President Joe Biden reversed that policy in 2021, allowing transgender people to serve openly in the US military.
Trump’s current military policy has already reached the Supreme Court once through an emergency application.
Last year, the justices allowed the administration to enforce the ban while the broader legal challenge continued. The court did not explain its reasoning in that emergency decision. The court’s three liberal justices publicly dissented.
Since then, however, lower courts have issued decisions limiting implementation of the policy.
Transgender rights organisations and advocates say the administration has continued efforts to remove transgender service members despite court orders protecting some of them.
The Supreme Court’s eventual decision on whether to hear the case could determine the future of transgender military service in the United States and become another significant ruling in the broader legal battle over transgender rights.
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