With the help of Lambda Legal, an organization that works to fight for citizen’s civil rights, two human rights groups, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the OutServe-Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), filed lawsuits against President Trump on Monday, Aug. 21 for his ban on transgender personnel in the military, claiming that it is unconstitutional. Both of these lawsuits were launched on behalf of transgender service members currently serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard and Naval Reserve, as well as people who would like to serve, but are now unable to because of the new order.

“It is an unconscionable and unconstitutional breach of trust for the president to single out brave transgender service members and able recruits for discrimination,” Human Rights Campaign National Press Secretary Sarah McBride said of the recent policy.

Though both lawsuits state that they are motivated by a desire for justice for the entire transgender community, many of the individual plaintiffs in the cases have impressive resumes in the United States military. For example, Petty Officer 1st Class Brock Stone, represented by the ACLU, has served for 11 years in the U.S. Navy, including a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan. He has received many awards and a lot of recognition for his service.

The main points of the ACLU complaint against Trump are that transgender members of the military have already been serving in the military for many decades and have made many sacrifices for their country: their time, their energy, and sometimes their lives. It claims that to exclude these members now is discrimination, and therefore is not in accordance with the guidelines set by the Constitution.

The complaint filed by Lambda Legal and OutServe-Servicemembers Legal Defense Network echoes many of the same sentiments, and also includes the protection of gender fluid and gender nonconforming people in its lawsuit, saying, “Defendants’ disparate treatment of transgender individuals facially and intentionally discriminates against transgender individuals based on sex-related considerations.  Discrimination based on sex-related considerations includes, but is not limited to, discrimination based on gender nonconformity, gender identity, transgender status, and gender transition.”

Though there have been critics in and outside of the political field, people of all ages and backgrounds have come forward to support the lawsuit and transgender rights in general.

“I think they will be successful in their lawsuit because it [the transgender ban] is a clearly discriminatory ban and does not follow the basic ideas of the Constitution,” freshman Nicolas Cruz said.

Both of these lawsuits aim to permanently block the ban from coming into force and relegalize transgender service in all areas of the United States military.

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