Legal Challenges to President Trump’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Executive Orders

Since taking office, President Trump has issued a series of executive orders targeting vulnerable communities, including LGBTQ+ people and their loved ones. Some of the directives will create immediate, tremendous harm, while others will take time and cooperation from policymakers to fully implement.

But we’re fighting back.

Within the first few weeks of the new administration, GLAD Law filed multiple lawsuits challenging these harmful orders.

And we’re making progress. GLAD Law and attorneys across the country are working to stop, delay, and minimize the impact of these attacks on LGBTQ+ rights.

Learn about the executive orders and legal challenges:

How GLAD Law is Fighting Back

GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) are challenging Trump’s ban on military service members:

Talbott v. USA: We are representing individuals who want to enlist as well as active service members who bring decades of experience across all military branches, contributing among the highest levels of service.

  • The latest (as of 5/6): On March 18, the court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction – halting the ban’s enforcement. On March 26, Judge Reyes rejected a Trump administration motion to dissolve the preliminary injunction. On May 6, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling in Shilling v. Trump allowing Trump’s transgender military ban to take effect while multiple legal challenges move forward. Later that night, plaintiffs in Talbott filed a letter brief with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals responding to the SCOTUS ruling and alerting the court to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s open disparagement of transgender troops. Learn more.

Ireland v. Hegseth: We are representing two longstanding, high-ranking Air Force service members who are facing significant disruption to their service.

  • The latest (as of 5/6): On March 24th, the New Jersey federal district court granted a Temporary Restraining Order to keep Staff Sergeant Nicholas Bear Bade and Master Sergeant Logan Ireland from being further impacted by the Trump administration’s transgender military ban. On May 6, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling in Shilling v. Trump allowing Trump’s transgender military ban to take effect while multiple legal challenges move forward. This is a devastating and unjust blow—but the fight is not over, and our lawsuit continues. Learn more.

Moe v. Trump, Doe v. Bondi, and Jones v. Bondi: GLAD Law and NCLR have filed three lawsuits challenging sections of an executive order that directs the federal Bureau of Prisons to house transgender women in men’s prisons and to unlawfully withhold necessary medical care. We are defending transgender women who were suddenly removed from their general population housing in women’s prisons, placed in special housing units (SHU), and faced imminent transfer to men’s facilities. They were also at risk of having their essential medical care terminated.

  • The latest (as of 3/3): We secured temporary restraining orders in Moe, Doe, and Jones, preventing our clients from being transferred to men’s facilities and ensuring their continued access to necessary medical care.

Tirrell and Turmelle v. Edelblut: GLAD Law and the ACLU of New Hampshire are defending Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, two transgender high schoolers challenging the ban that aims to keep them and other trans girls from playing the sports they love with their friends. The case was originally filed as a challenge to a New Hampshire state law, but was expanded to include President Trump after his February 5 executive order to ban trans girls from sports nationwide.

  • The latest (as of 2/12): We expanded our lawsuit beyond New Hampshire, adding a challenge to President Trump’s executive order banning transgender girls and women from sports nationwide. Learn more.

Banning Transgender Servicemembers

President Trump issued an executive order on January 27, 2025 banning transgender people from serving in the U.S. military. This reckless ban weakens our military, subjecting qualified transgender servicemembers to discharge because of who they are and turning away skilled individuals who meet rigorous standards and are ready to serve.

Cases

  • Talbott v. USA, filed by GLAD Law and NCLR
  • Ireland v. Hegseth, filed by GLAD Law and NCLR
  • Shilling v. Trump, filed by Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign
    • The latest (as of 5/6): The Supreme Court of the United States granted the Trump Administration’s request to stay the preliminary injunction that blocked enforcement of the executive order. This order lifts the nationwide injunction, allowing the military ban to go into effect. Learn more.

Barriers for Transgender People in Public Life

Executive Order 14168, issued on January 20, 2025, is an alarming attempt to undo the basic protections that allow transgender people to go about their daily lives. It directs the State Department to stop issuing accurate passports for trans people, instructs the Bureau of Prisons to deny incarcerated transgender people health care and appropriate housing, and charges the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reverse rules that give trans people safe access to shelters. It also pushes federal agencies to remove mention of gender identity from their websites, materials, and forms.

Cases

  • Defending the rights of transgender women who are incarcerated:
  • Challenges to the State Department’s refusal to issue correct passports for transgender people:
    • Orr v. Trump, filed by the ACLU and ACLU of Massachusetts
      • The latest (as of 4/30): The district court issued a preliminary injunction to six plaintiffs in Orr v. Trump, requiring the State Department to issue them updated passports reflecting their gender identity. The ACLU filed a motion asking the court to expand the preliminary injunction to all trans, intersex, and nonbinary people seeking passports.
    • Schlacter v. US Department of State, filed by Lambda Legal
  • American Public Health Association v. National Institute of Health, filed by the ACLU and ACLU of Massachusetts, challenges the abrupt cancellation of research grants by the NIH due to their connections to gender identity or diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • Doctors for America v. Office of Personnel Management, filed by Public Citizen against the OPM, CDC, FDA, and HHS, challenges the removal of a broad range of health-related data and information, including information related to LGBTQ+ people, from publicly accessible government websites.
    • The latest (as of 3/11): The motion for a temporary restraining order was granted requiring the agencies to restore the webpages and datasets while litigation proceeds. The plaintiffs have filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and summary judgment.
  • E.K. v. Department of Defense Education Activity, filed by the ACLU, ACLU of Virginia, and ACLU of Kentucky, challenges the Department of Defense Education Activity’s removal of educational material related to race and gender from its libraries and classrooms in K-12 schools.
  • National Urban League v. Trump, filed by Lambda Legal on behalf of the National Urban League, the National Fair Housing Alliance, and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, challenges three executive orders that target DEIA initiatives and seek to deny the existence of transgender people.
  • Rhode Island Latino Arts v. National Endowment for the Arts, filed by the ACLU and ACLU of Rhode Island, challenges the NEA requirement that grant applicants certify they will not use use federal funds to “promote gender ideology.”
    • The latest (as of 4/3): The court denied the plaintiffs motion for preliminary injunction. Learn more.
  • San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump, filed by Lambda Legal on behalf of multiple LGBTQ, Health, and HIV organizations, challenges three executive orders that seek to deny the existence of transgender people and prohibits and prohibits federal contractors from respecting their identities, terminate equity-related grants, and prohibit federal contractors and grantees from employing DEIA principles in their work.
  • Schiff v. Office of Personnel Management, filed by the ACLU, ACLU of Massachusetts, and the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School on behalf of doctors from Harvard Medical School, challenges the removal of research articles that mention LGBTQ+ people from a government-run website.

Restricting Health Care

On January 28, 2025, President Trump signed an order intended to ban health care for transgender young people under age 19. It seeks to deny coverage for medically necessary care to transgender dependents of federal employees and seeks to ban federal funding for any healthcare organization that provides this necessary and proven healthcare for transgender people under 19.

Cases

  • PFLAG v. Trump, filed by ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU of Maryland
    • The latest (as of 3/4): A federal judge granted a request for preliminary injunction, blocking enforcement of the executive orders threatening federal funding for providers of gender-affirming medical care for people under 19. Learn more.
  • Washington v. Trump, filed by Attorneys General from Washington, Minnesota, and Oregon
    • The latest (as of 3/17): The court granted the plaintiffs request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. The court denied Washington’s request to hold the Trump administration in contempt after a grant to Seattle Children’s hospital was cancelled despite orders blocking the freezing of federal funding.

Targeting Transgender Girls in Sports

President Trump signed an executive order barring transgender girls from participating in school sports. President Trump’s order subjects transgender girls to discrimination in violation of federal equal protection guarantees, including their rights under Title IX. The order also unlawfully subjects schools to the threat of losing federal funding for allowing transgender girls to play school sports.

Cases

Resources

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