Biden-appointed judge blocks Trump's trans military ban, says it is 'demeaning,' quotes Hamilton

US District Judge Ana C. Reyes, a Biden appointee, has ruled that the Trump administration does not have the authority to ban transgender persons from serving in the US Armed Forces. As part of her ruling, Reyes said that "the ban at the bottom invokes derogatory language to target a vulnerable group in violation of the Fifth Amendment." Reyes also quoted Hamilton as part of the decision.

The case was brought by trans troops against the Trump administration. Some of these troops are on active duty, at least one is stationed in a combat zone.

The Trump administration and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said that allowing trans troops to serve "conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life." They argued that the lie of trans—that a person is a sex that they are not—as well as the medical requirements, pose a hindrance to military readiness. 

In the ruling, Reyes quotes some of the courtroom conversation. The court asked, "Is saying that transgender people or people with gender dysphoria, [that] their inherent identity is inconsistent with a commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, is that demeaning to them?" 

Defense responded, "I don't have a characterization for that, Your Honor."

However, Reyes' question was about the nature of the statement, not the truthfulness of it. A statement that is true can be perceived as demeaning but that does not negate its truthfulness. Reyes continued asking about the "characterization" of the statements issued by the Trump administration in defense of the ban as opposed to the truth or falsehood of the statements. It appeared to be Reyes' view that the "demeaning" characterization of the statements invalidated the statements themselves.

Reyes stated in the ruling: "An 'Action Memo' claimed the Policy 'was informed through consideration of' three studies and cost data... Who considered the information, however, is anyone's guess; Defendants do not know. Maybe no one, because one study is eight years old and the other two support the Plaintiffs' position." Reyes further believed that the actions of the Trump administration were driven by animus. In other words, she seems to think the Trump administration is transphobic.

Trump had issued an executive order saying that the mission of ensuring "the world's most lethal and effective fighting force... requires a singular focus on developing the requisite warrior ethos, and the pursuit of military excellence cannot be diluted to accommodate political agendas or other ideologies harmful to unit cohesion." He went on to say that "the Armed Forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists unconcerned with the requirements of military service like physical and mental health, selflessness, and unit cohesion."

"The Court’s factual findings," reads the ruling, "the vast majority conceded by Defendants and all supported by the Record, make it highly unlikely that the Military Ban will survive judicial review, whether it be rational basis or intermediate scrutiny. Plaintiffs must also show irreparable harm and that the balance of the equities and the public interest favor an injunction. On the former, Plaintiffs face a violation of their constitutional rights, which constitutes irreparable harm. Indeed, the cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed—some risking their lives—to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them. On the latter, Defendants have not shown they will be burdened by continuing the status quo pending this litigation, and avoiding constitutional violations is always in the public interest."

Reyes took up the question of judicial overreach, saying "Judicial overreach is no less pernicious than executive overreach. but the coordinate branches must, 'by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places.'" The quote is from the Federalist Papers No. 51, authored by James Madison.

It was then that the ruling quoted Hamilton, the hit musical from Lin Manuel Miranda. Reyes cited the show for the quote "women were included in the sequel" when women were granted the right to vote. The court does not seem to believe that there is a difference between rights granted for women and rights expanded for men who think they are women. There are no rights trans persons do not have in the United States, there are simply rights of others that trans persons cannot infringe upon in order to uphold the lie that they are the opposite sex.

Trump had attempted a trans ban during his first term in office but the courts then, as now, put a stop to it. When Joe Biden took the White House, he reversed that ban. Currently, about 0.2 percent of the military are transgender, comprising some 4,200 service members. The US Armed Forces will pay for a trans service member's cross-sex hormones and sex change surgeries.

gov.uscourts.dcd.276845.89.0 by The Post Millennial on Scribd