Federal judge denies Trump administration's attempt to ban transgender people from the military

A federal judge on Wednesday denied the Justice Department's attempt to dissolve her block of President Donald Trump's executive order that banned transgender people from serving in the military, just days before the ban is expected to take effect.

Washington, D.C.-based U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes made the initial ruling on the ban last week, in which she stated the ban was in violation of the equal protection clause due to discrimination.

A federal judge in New Jersey on Monday made a similar ruling involving Air Force sergeants. The first case, in Washington, D.C., involved Naval and Army service members, according to USA Today.

Trump signed the executive order in January on moral and medical grounds, stating that being transgender "conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life."

Reyes on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration's to lift the block, which they argued was not discriminatory against transgender people and focused on the medical condition of gender dysphoria.  

"Regulating gender dysphoria is no different than regulating bipolar disorder, eating disorders, or suicidality," Reyes wrote in her opinion, per Fox News. "The Military Ban regulates a medical condition, they insist, not people. And therein lies the problem. Gender dysphoria is not like other medical conditions, something Defendants well know. It affects only one group of people: all persons with gender dysphoria are transgender and only transgender persons experience gender dysphoria."

The transgender ban was scheduled to take effect on Friday. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.