Trump On Transgenders

Trump asks SC to let him enforce transgender, nonbinary passport policy

President Donald Trump's administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to let it enforce a passport policy for transgender and nonbinary people that requires male or female sex designations based on birth certificates. The Justice Department appealed a lower-court order allowing people use the gender or X identification marker that lines up with their gender identity. It's the latest in a series of emergency appeals from the Trump administration, many of which have resulted in victories amid litigation, including on banning transgender people from the military. The government argues it can't be required to use sex designations it considers inaccurate on official documents. The plaintiffs, meanwhile, say the policy violates the rights of transgender and nonbinary Americans. The State Department changed its passport rules after Trump, a Republican, handed down an executive order in January declaring the United States would recognize two sexes, male and female," based on what it ..

New US Air Force policy denies transgender troops discharge hearings

The Air Force says in a new memo that transgender airmen ousted under a recent Trump administration directive will no longer have the chance to argue before a board of their peers for the right to continue serving their country. The memo dated Tuesday says military separation boards cannot independently decide whether to keep or discharge transgender airmen and instead must recommend separation of the member if the airman has a diagnosis of gender dysphoria when a person's biological sex does not match up with their gender identity. Military legal experts who have been advising transgender troops told The Associated Press that the new policy is unlawful, and while they were not aware of the other services releasing similar memos, they fear it could serve as a blueprint across the military. Advocacy groups say the change threatens to weaken trust in the military's leadership. It is the second policy change the Air Force has taken in recent weeks to crack down on transgender service

Trump administration sues California over transgender athlete policies

President Donald Trump's administration sued the California Department of Education on Wednesday for allowing transgender girls to compete on girls sports teams, alleging the policy violates federal law. The move escalates a battle between the Republican administration in Washington and Democratic-led California over trans athletes. The lawsuit filed by the Justice Department says California's transgender athlete policies violate Title IX, the federal law that bans discrimination in education based on sex. The department says California's rules are not only illegal and unfair but also demeaning, signalling to girls that their opportunities and achievements are secondary to accommodating boys. US Attorney General Pam Bondi warned other states that allow trans girls to compete in female athletics that they could also face challenges by the federal government. If you do not comply, you're next, she said in a video posted on social media. We will protect girls in girls sports. The st

After UPenn ban, US top court agrees to hear case on transgender athletes

The US Supreme Court will review bans from West Virginia and Idaho, marking its first ruling on transgender participation in girls' and women's sports

UPenn to ban transgender athletes from women's sports after govt settlement

The University of Pennsylvania reverses stance on transgender athlete participation in sports following Donald Trump's executive order, and subsequent federal investigation

Pentagon orders removal of up to 1,000 transgender troops from military

The Pentagon will immediately begin moving as many as 1,000 openly identifying transgender service members out of the military and give others 30 days to self-identify, under a new directive issued Thursday. Buoyed by Tuesday's Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to enforce a ban on transgender individuals in the military, the Defence Department will then begin going through medical records to identify others who haven't come forward. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who issued the latest memo, made his views clear after the court's decision. "No More Trans @ DoD," Hegseth wrote in a post on X. Earlier in the day, before the court acted, Hegseth was more blunt, telling a conference that his department is leaving wokeness and weakness behind. "No more pronouns," he told a special operations forces conference in Tampa. Department officials have said it's difficult to determine exactly how many transgender service members there are, but medical records will show th

Supreme Court lets Trump's transgender military ban take effect, for now

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump's administration to enforce a ban on transgender people in the military, while legal challenges proceed. The court acted in the dispute over a policy that presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service and could lead to the expulsion of experienced, decorated officers. The court's three liberal justices said they would have kept the policy on hold. Just after beginning his second term in January, Trump moved aggressively to roll back the rights of transgender people. Among the Republican president's actions was an executive order that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honourable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life and is harmful to military readiness. In response, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that gave the military services 30 days to figure out how they would seek out and identify ...

Rulings coming fast in lawsuits over Trump's immigration, DEI policies

The Trump administration was handed a rapid-fire series of court losses Wednesday night and Thursday in lawsuits filed over its policies on immigration, elections and its crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programmes in schools. But the legal disputes playing out across the country are far from over, and administration attorneys pushed back, asking the federal appellate courts and the US Supreme Court to overturn some of the unfavourable decisions. Here's a look at the latest developments in some of the more than 170 lawsuits filed over President Donald Trump's executive orders. DEI Judges blocked the administration from enforcing its diversity, equity and inclusion crackdown in education in at least two lawsuits Thursday. The decisions came ahead of a Friday deadline that the Education Department set for states to sign a form certifying they would not use illegal DEI practices. A federal judge in New Hampshire blocked a series of directives from the Education Department

Judge blocks Trump admin's passport changes affecting transgender Americans

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from enacting a policy that bans the use of X marker used by many nonbinary people on passports as well as the changing of gender markers. In an executive order signed in January, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead of a broader conception of gender. The order says a person is male or female and it rejects the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned at birth to another gender. The framing is in line with many conservatives' views but at odds with major medical groups and policies under former President Joe Biden. US District Judge Julia Kobick, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, sided with the American Civil Liberties Union's motion for a preliminary injunction, which stays the action while the lawsuit plays out. The Executive Order and the Passport Policy on their face classify passport applicants on the basis of sex and thus must be reviewed under intermediate judicial scrutiny

Transgender teens fight back Trump's ban on participation in girls' sports

Parker Tirrell, 16, enjoys her art classes, scrolling on TikTok and working at her new job at a pet store. But most of all, the transgender teen loves playing soccer. Until last year, that wasn't a problem. I was just living my life like any normal person, said Tirrell, who has played since she was 4. I was accepted. I had a nice, steady team that I played on all the time. Then came a cascade of obstacles, starting with a state ban on transgender girls in girls' sports, and most recently President Donald Trump's Feb. 5 executive order, Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports." Now, life is anything but normal. Tirrell, along with Iris Turmelle, 15, another transgender girl, are the first to challenge Trump's order, six months after suing their own state over its ban and getting a court order allowing them to play. I just feel like I'm being singled out right now by lawmakers and Trump and just the whole legislative system for something that I can't control, Tirrell told The Associated P

Judge temporarily halts Trump's removal of transgender service members

A federal judge in New Jersey has issued a temporary ban on the removal of two transgender men from the Air Force, following a similar ruling last week from a judge in Washington. US district judge Christine O'Hearn after a hearing on Monday said the pair have shown their separation would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations. She issued a two-week ban on the enforcement of President Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender people from military service. O'Hearn found that Master Sgt Logan Ireland and Staff Sgt Nicholas Bear Bade are likely to prevail on equal protection grounds by showing they have been singled out due to their sex and the defendants cannot justify the differential treatment. "The loss of military service under the stigma of a policy that targets gender identity is not merely a loss of employment; it is a profound disruption of personal dignity, medical continuity, and public service," O'Hearn wrote in an order granting a 14-day restrainin

Transgender troops being identified, to be removed under Pentagon orders

The military services have 30 days to figure out how they will seek out and identify transgender service members to remove them from the force a daunting task that may end up relying on troops self-reporting or tattling on their colleagues. A memo sent to Defense Department leaders on Thursday after the Pentagon filed it late Wednesday as part of a response to a lawsuit orders the services to set up procedures to identify troops diagnosed with or being treated for gender dysphoria by March 26. They will then have 30 days to begin removing those troops from service. The order expands on the executive order signed by President Donald Trump during his early days in office setting out steps toward banning transgender individuals from serving in the military. The directive has been challenged in court. Initial but incomplete counts of transgender troops easily identifiable through medical records is in the hundreds, US officials said. That's a tiny fraction of the 2.1 million troops .

Pentagon says transgender troops must meet warfighting need to serve

The Pentagon revealed the specifics of its new transgender troop policy in a court filing Wednesday that says any service member or recruit who has been diagnosed with or treated for gender dysphoria is disqualified from serving unless they can prove they meet a specific warfighting need and adhere to severe restrictions on their day-to-day behavior. The policy memo was included in the latest court filing in a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's executive order against transgender military service, one of many hot-button issues the president made a priority to address on his first days in office. Like the executive order, the policy filed Wednesday suggests that the lethality and integrity of the military is inconsistent with what transgender personnel go through as they transition to the gender they identify with, and issues an edict that gender is immutable, unchanging during a person's life." The policy provides two exceptions if transgender personnel who seek to enlis

Transgender ban: US Army halts recruitment, ends gender-affirming care

The decision reverses the policies established under the Biden administration, which had allowed transgender individuals to serve in the military and access medical care

Second judge pauses Trump's order against gender-affirming care for youth

A second federal judge on Friday paused President Donald Trump's executive order halting federal support for gender-affirming care for transgender youth under 19. US District Court Judge Lauren King granted a temporary restraining order after the Democratic attorneys general of Washington state, Oregon and Minnesota sued the Trump administration last week. Three doctors joined as plaintiffs in the suit, which was filed in the Western District of Washington. The decision came one day after a federal judge in Baltimore temporarily blocked the executive order in response to a separate lawsuit filed on behalf of families with transgender or nonbinary children. Judge Brendan Hurson's temporary restraining order will last 14 days but could be extended, and essentially puts Trump's directive on hold while the case proceeds. Hurston and King were both appointed by former President Joe Biden. Trump signed an executive order last month halting federal funding for institutions that provide th

Judge pauses Trump order restricting gender-affirming care for trans youth

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's recent executive order aimed at restricting gender-affirming health care for transgender people under age 19. The judge's ruling came after a lawsuit was filed earlier this month on behalf of families with transgender or nonbinary children who allege their health care has already been compromised by the president's order. A national group for family of LGBTQ+ people and a doctors organisation are also plaintiffs in the court challenge, one of many lawsuits opposing a slew of executive orders Trump has issued as he seeks to reverse the policies of former President Joe Biden. Judge Brendan Hurson, who was nominated by Biden, granted the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order following a hearing in federal court in Baltimore. The ruling essentially puts Trump's directive on hold while the case proceeds. Trump's executive order "seems to deny that this population even exists, or deserves to exist," .

Trump makes passport applications more complex for transgender Americans

The day after President Donald Trump returned to office, Lisa Suhay took her 21-year-old daughter, Mellow, to a passport office in Norfolk, Virginia, where they live. Getting a passport for Mellow, who is transgender, was urgent. In an executive order Trump signed the night before, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead of a broader conception of gender. The order says a person is male or female and it rejects the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned at birth to another gender. The framing is in line with many conservatives' views but at odds with major medical groups and policies under former President Joe Biden. Her family wants Mellow to be able to leave the country if things became unbearable for transgender people in the US as the federal government increasingly moves not to recognise them. If the worst was to come to worst and things were to threaten my life, she said, I would have some way out. Trump's Jan. 20 order, which questions th

Trump to sign executive order, ban trans female athletes from competing

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Wednesday designed to prevent people who were biologically assigned male at birth from participating in women's or girls' sporting events. The order, which Trump is expected to sign at an afternoon ceremony, marks another aggressive shift by the president's second administration in the way the federal government deals with transgender people and their rights. The president put out a sweeping order on his first day in office last month that called for the federal government to define sex as only male or female and for that to be reflected on official documents such as passports and in policies such as federal prison assignments. Trump found during the campaign that his pledge to keep men out of women's sports resonated beyond the usual party lines. More than half the voters surveyed by AP VoteCast said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far. He leaned into the rhetoric before the election, ...

Families sue over Trump's order to halt funds for gender-affirming care

A group of families with transgender children filed a lawsuit Tuesday over President Donald Trump's executive order to halt federal support for gender-affirming health care for transgender people under age 19. PFLAG, a national group for family of LGBTQ+ people; and GLMA, a doctors organisation, are also plaintiffs in the court challenge in US District Court in Baltimore. It comes one week after Trump signed an order calling for the federal government to stop funding the medical care through federal government-run health insurance programs including Medicaid and TRICARE. Kristen Chapman, the mother of one of the plaintiffs in the case, said her family moved to Richmond, Virginia, from Tennessee in 2023 because of a ban on gender-affirming care in their home state. Her 17-year-old daughter, Willow, had an initial appointment scheduled for last week with a new provider who would accept Medicaid. But Trump signed his order the day before and the hospital said it could not provide care.

Trump ends teen gender transition funding; Musk has reason to cheer

US president has signed an order cutting federal funding for teen gender transitions, with Elon Musk's support adding to the controversy