The Trevor Project filed an amicus brief today with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in the case of Doe 2 v. Trump as federal lawsuits against the transgender military ban continue. The ban has been prevented from going into effect through multiple lower court rulings, but the government has appealed and continues to try to implement this discriminatory and unnecessary policy.
This amicus brief, like those The Trevor Project has filed in the earlier trans ban cases, provides the Court and the public with Trevor’s insights into the strength and resilience of transgender individuals, but also the harms of discrimination, as our data show anti-LGBTQ statements and policies by government officials correlate with significant increases in youth reaching out to our crisis services for help.
For example, The New York Times recently published an article revealing an effort within the federal government to “essentially eradicate federal recognition” of transgender people by defining “sex” by reference to “immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth.” In the twenty-four hours following this article’s publication, the number of self-identified transgender youth who contacted The Trevor Project via digital crisis services nearly doubled.
This updated brief also notes the high levels of support for transgender inclusion among the population of young Americans most likely to serve in the United States military, as polls show 65 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 support comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people. The transgender military ban forces them to choose between a potential career of service and their strong support for equality.
The Trevor Project was represented by pro bono counsel from Gibson Dunn, including Stuart Delery, Douglas Dreier, and Charlotte Lawson.
