Pushback

The Trump administration has issued decrees banning us, with a stroke of a pen he has overturned all the federal protections that the Obama presidency initiated. Well folks it doesn’t work that way, we need hearings and legal reviews. You might remember the Williams study or the hearings that the Departments of Labor and Education held before they issued their policies. It took years for Medicare to come out with their policy on healthcare for us. Well you need to do it in reverse to undo it.

The lawsuits have begun…

LGBT rights group sues for documents on federal transgender bathroom guidance
The Hill
By Lydia Wheeler
August 23, 2017


An LGBT rights groups is suing to force the Trump administration to turn over documents related to its decision to withdraw guidance that allowed transgender students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity.

In the complaint Lambda Legal filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, the group claimed the Education Department and the Department of Justice (DOJ) violated the Freedom of Information Act by withholding information the group requested more than five months ago. Lambda Legal requested documents about the agencies’ February decision to repeal guidance issued under former President Barack Obama to ensure schools follow Title IX anti-discrimination laws.

Among the documents requested was an unpublished opinion letter James Ferg-Cadima, acting deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, wrote in January 2015.

This is only the first step in the legal battle.

I don’t think that they will find that the administration has any legal grounds to stand on, that it is nothing but bias against us that lead to the repeal of Title VII and Title IX protections for us.

Then there are lawsuits moving forward to block Trump’s decree banning us from the military.

5 Transgender Service Members Sue Trump Over Military Ban
New York Times
By Charlie Savag
August 9, 2017

WASHINGTON — Five transgender people serving in the United States military sued President Trump and top Pentagon officials on Wednesday, asking that transgender troops be allowed to stay in the military.

The lawsuit was filed in response to Mr. Trump’s ban abruptly announced last month on Twitter.

The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit under pseudonyms — “Jane Doe” Nos. 1-5 — in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The case was organized by two rights groups, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, or GLAD.
[…]
But Shannon Minter, the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said he believed the case was already ripe for a lawsuit because active transgender service members — such as those deciding whether to re-enlist — were already being harmed by the uncertainty created by Mr. Trump’s statements on Twitter.

And the legal reasons they are suing are because,

The lawsuit complaint argued that banning transgender people from serving in the military would be unconstitutional discrimination, violating their rights to equal protection and due process. It also argued that the Pentagon could not end people’s military careers for coming out openly as transgender because they did so in relying on the Pentagon itself saying they would be permitted to serve.

In a press release National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders said that,

Plaintiffs serve in the Air Force, the Coast Guard, and the Army. Their years of service range from three years to two decades, and include tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.  As a result of the President’s statements, they face dramatic uncertainty about their futures including the potential loss of their professions, livelihoods, and post-military and retirement benefits.

The complaint, which can be viewed here, rests on claims of equal protection, due process and estoppel, based on the inequity of the reversal of military policy after thousands of service members followed protocol and informed their chain of command that they are transgender.

So let’s hope that the court cases proceed and hold off the edict by Trump at least until 2020.