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Federal Judge Rules Trump Administration Must Release Documents in Transgender Service Member Case

Case: Stone v. Trump
Affiliate: ACLU of Maryland
August 15, 2018 1:45 pm
ACLU Affiliate
ACLU of Maryland
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media@aclu.org (212) 549-2666
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New York, NY 10004
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 15, 2017

CONTACT:
Tyler Richard, ACLU, (212) 549-2666, media@aclu.org
Meredith Curtis, ACLU of Maryland, Curtis@aclu-md.org

MARYLAND — A federal judge yesterday rejected the Trump administration’s effort to shieldinformation it used to implement a ban on transgender people in the military. Stone v. Trump is the ACLU’s lawsuit on behalf of a dozen transgender individuals currently serving or wanting to serve in the armed forces.

In rejecting the Trump Administration’s attempt to shield these materials from review, United States Magistrate Judge A. David Copperthite stated that the documents were relevant to the Trump Administration’s intent and “ whether [the ban] was for military purposes or whether it was purely for political and discriminatory purposes—is at the very heart of this litigation.”

Joshua Block, senior staff attorney with the LGBT & HIV Project had the following response:

“President Trump banned transgender people from serving in the military and then ordered the Department of Defense to come up with pretext to justify that discriminatory decision. Today’s decision makes clear that the Trump Administration cannot continue to hide the true reasons behind its crusade to purge transgender people from the military. These brave men and women should be able to continue serving their country ably and honorably without being discriminated against by their own commander in chief.”

The order is available here: https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/stone-v-trump-memorandum-opinion

More information on Stone v. Trump is available here: https://www.aclu.org/cases/stone-v-trump

Brock Stone

Stone v. Trump

The ACLU, ACLU of Maryland, and Covington & Burling LLP filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on behalf of six members of the armed forces who are transgender and the ACLU of Maryland. The lawsuit challenges the president’s directive banning transgender service members from continuing to serve in the military, banning transgender service members from receiving certain medically necessary health care, and banning transgender individuals from enlisting in the armed forces.

Source: American Civil Liberties Union

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