ACLU Files Lawsuit Over Transgender Military Ban
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's ban on transgender individuals joining the military.
The federal lawsuit was filed in Maryland on Monday by the ACLU of Maryland on behalf of an 11-year Navy veteran who served in Afghanistan, and several other transgender members of the armed forces.
Trump directed the Pentagon on Friday to implement the ban on transgender individuals joining the military, which he first announced in a tweet last month. He also gave to the Pentagon the authority to decide the future of openly transgender people already serving.
BREAKING: We're taking @realDonaldTrump to court to challenge the unconstitutional transgender military ban. pic.twitter.com/udV6P1hIJh
— ACLU (@ACLU) August 28, 2017
The lawsuit alleges Trump's policy violates the equal protection rights of transgender service members who now have "grave reason to fear for their careers.''
In a separate lawsuit, a soldier based in Washington state and two young men who hope to enlist joined the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign and the Gender Justice League, a Washington state gay rights group, in suing the government in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Monday. They argue the ban violates the equal protection, due process and free speech guarantees of the Constitution.
One of the Seattle plaintiffs is 33-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Cathrine Schmid, who has served for more than 12 years and is stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of the city. The others are Ryan Karnoski, a 22-year-old transgender man who lives in Seattle, and a transgender high school student from Corpus Christi, Texas.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)