Appeals court blocks Trump from expelling transgender troops

June 2 (UPI) -- The Trump administration's ban on transgender servicemembers in the U.S. military is "both arbitrary and based upon animus," a federal appeals court ruled, maintaining a block on the government from discharging plaintiffs in the case.

While the divided court ruled 2-1 on Monday to maintain a lower court's block preventing the expulsion of the active-duty servicemembers, it also vacated the injunction to allow the U.S. government to deny future enrollment to transgender Americans.

Though it was a divided opinion, the National Center for LGBTQ Rights and GLAD celebrated.

"This is a dramatic shift in the status quo," National Center for LGBTQ Rights Legal Director Shannon Minter said in a statement.

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"Before today, the Trump administration was actively taking steps to discharge these courageous plaintiffs. Today's decision stops this administration from doing so."

President Donald Trump, who ran on an anti-diversity, anti-transgender campaign, has implemented a series of policies via executive orders restricting the rights of this minority group, from targeting their healthcare to their ability to serve their nation.

An executive order issued during the first days of his second administration specifically prohibited transgender servicemembers, saying they and their health needs were "inconsistent" with the U.S. military's policy to establish high standards for troop readiness as well as honesty and integrity.

In February, the National Center for LGBTQ Rights and GLAD Law filed a lawsuit challenging the policy, with a lower court issuing a nationwide preliminary injunction against the executive order.

On Monday, the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia handed down its ruling, maintaining part of the injunction, while dropping the other.

Writing on behalf of the majority, Judge Robert Wilkins remarked that the Trump administration's ban on transgender Americans serving in the military "appears driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group."

He said the Trump administration did not attempt to defend or provide any factual basis for its "disparaging characterizations of American citizens" in the executive order as being inconsistent with honesty and integrity as well as for expressing what it called a "false gender identity."

"Indeed, the government has not contested that the plaintiff-appellees who are currently serving (and who have collectively earned more than 80 commendations) have served honorably and pose no threat to national security, even though they happen to be transgender and have suffered from gender dysphoria," the President Barack Obama appointee wrote.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon will be appealing to the Supreme Court.

"See you at SCOTUS," he said online.

Trump honors U.S. Navy’s 250 years at Norfolk, Va., ceremony

President Donald Trump departs after speaking during the America's Navy 250 Titans of the Sea: A Salute to the Fleet event celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Navy at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va., on October 5, 2025. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo