Washington AG files support in effort to block federal ban on transgender military service

OLYMPIA – Washington has joined 20 other states in supporting a legal challenge to a federal ban on transgender military personnel serving in the armed forces.

The state’s amicus brief, filed in federal court Wednesday, responds to the Pentagon’s decision to remove transgender military personnel unless granted a waiver, fulfilling an executive order President Donald Trump signed in his first days in office to bar transgender military members from serving.

The executive order, titled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” says it is the policy of the United States Government “to establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity.”

“This policy is inconsistent with the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria,” the order states. “This policy is also inconsistent with shifting pronoun usage or use of pronouns that inaccurately reflect an individual’s sex.”

On Wednesday, the Pentagon said that transgender military personnel would be disqualified from service, removed from their jobs and receive an honorable separation unless otherwise reflected in their record.

The brief filed Wednesday in support of transgender military members was co-written by Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown and filed in support of U.S. Navy Commander Emily Shilling, who has served for more than 20 years and flown more than 60 combat and high-risk missions.

In the brief, the states argued Trump’s order “not only violates the Constitution… but it will also weaken our nation’s military, including the National Guard.”

According to the brief, a 2020 study found that at least 8,000 transgender military members were serving on active duty.

“The President’s executive order would require the National Guard to discharge transgender members and turn away potential recruits solely because they identify as transgender,” the brief states. “The lost potential for new personnel, not to mention the loss of personnel in whom training and money have been invested, will impede the National Guard’s ability to respond to natural disasters and perform its other functions at a time when a robust National Guard is more necessary than ever.”

While in office, Trump has signed three other executive orders directed at transgender people, including directing the federal government to only recognize two genders and blocking funding to medical institutions providing gender-affirming care to those younger than 19.

Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order that directed the federal government to “rescind all funds from educational programs” that allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s and girls’ sports.

Earlier this month, Brown joined the attorneys general of Oregon and Minnesota in a multistate lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, to block Trump’s efforts to restrict gender-affirming care.

The states are seeking a preliminary injunction to block the order from going into effect and will appear for a hearing in federal court on Friday afternoon.