[direwolf]

Trump administration now being sued over his military transgender ban.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a7916781.html

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing the Trump administration over the President's ban on transgender people in the military.

The ACLU claims the ban, which Mr Trump first announced via Twitter, is unconstitutional and "based on uninformed speculation, myths and stereotypes, and a desire to harm transgender people".

The suit is one of two legal complaints filed against Mr Trump's ban. The Lambda Legal and OutServe-Service Members Legal Defense Network also filed suit on Monday, claiming the ban is "unsupported by any compelling, important, or even rational justification".

Mr Trump has claimed transgender service must be banned due to the "tremendous medical costs and disruption" that it would entail. A 2016 study commissioned by the Department of Defence, however, found that allowing transgender troops to serve openly would have “little to no impact” on military readiness, and would increase health care expenditures by less than half a per cent.

“Each and every claim made by the President Trump to justify this ban can be easily debunked by the conclusions drawn from the Department of Defense’s own review process," Mr Block said.

It is estimated that more than 15,000 transgender people are actively serving in the US military. Another 134,000 are veterans.

“We promised that we would sue if the president took this action," said Peter Perkowski, Legal Director for OutServe-SLDN. "...We are on the side of every single transgender service member and those who want to serve."

He added: "The nation’s courts exist to protect the people whom tyrants would otherwise abuse. Trump can’t tweet his way out of this one.”