California leaders praise blocking of Trump’s order banning trans people from military

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.

In her strongly worded ruling, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., said the order, Prioritizing Military Excellence, violates the constitutional rights of trans people.

They “face a violation of their constitutional rights,” she wrote. “Which constitutes irreparable harm.”

“The court knows that this opinion will lead to heated public debate and appeals. In a healthy democracy, both are positive outcomes,” wrote Reyes, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden.

“We should all agree, however, that every person who has answered the call to serve deserves our gratitude and respect.”

Reyes also wrote that the order “is soaked in animus.”

“Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact,” she wrote. “Indeed, the cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed — some risking their lives — to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them.”

California politicians and LGBTQ rights groups applauded Reyes’s ruling on Wednesday.

“This ruling validates what we already knew to be the case — President Trump’s modern-day Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Executive Order is unconstitutional and blatantly, arbitrarily targets a single class of valiant service members simply for their gender identity,” said Assemblymember Chris Ward and state Sen. Caroline Menjivar, chair and vice chair, respectively, of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus.

“The Court’s unequivocal findings further legitimize the fact that the new administration’s actions are rooted in personal, baseless biases at the expense of our national security. We remain confident that this ruling will stand and all transgender, gender nonconforming/non-binary, and intersex service members will be able to continue selflessly and bravely serving our nation.”

“This ruling reaffirms a fundamental truth: every qualified and dedicated American willing to serve their country should be able to do so,” said Jorge Reyes Salinas, Equality California’s communications director.

“Transgender service members have served with honor and distinction for decades, proving that what truly matters in our military is commitment, courage and the ability to complete the mission. We will not stop fighting until this unjust policy is permanently overturned and every transgender person is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

Trump Administration responds

Reyes delayed the order until Friday morning, giving the Trump Administration four days to appeal with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case would then move its way through the court system, potentially landing at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Both the Department of Justice and the Trump Administration at large have been outspoken in their criticism of what they call “activist judges,” though a justice department spokesperson did not say whether it would be filing an appeal.

“This is the latest example of an activist judge attempting to seize power at the expense of the American people who overwhelmingly voted to elect President Trump,” said the spokesperson. “The Department of Justice has vigorously defended President Trump’s executive actions, including the Defending Women Executive Order, and will continue to do so.” (The Defending Women Executive Order is another of Trump’s anti-trans orders.)

At a White House press briefing Wednesday afternoon, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said judges were acting “erroneously.”

Levitt was not just speaking about Reyes, but about several federal judges who have blocked Trump’s policies.

“We have judges who are acting as partisan activists from the bench,” she said. “They are trying to dictate policy from the President of the United States. They are trying to clearly slow walk this administration’s agenda, and it’s unacceptable.”

Trump has already threatened to impeach Judge James Boasberg after Boasberg ordered Trump to halt the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador without due process. On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang, a Barack Obama appointee, ruled that the Department of Government Efficiency, which is not a formal U.S. government department and which is led by Elon Musk, likely violated the Constitution when it gutted the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“It is incredibly apparent that there is a concerted effort by the far-left to judge shop, to pick judges who are clearly acting as partisan activists from the bench in an attempt to derail this president’s agenda,” Leavitt said. “We will not allow that to happen.” The administration has not formally appealed Reyes’ decision.

Trump adviser and Southern California native Stephen Miller also chimed in, calling Reyes’s ruling “madness” in a post on X.

“District court judges have now decided they are in command of the Armed Forces … is there no end to this madness?”

This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 10:43 AM.