Even during a pandemic, the work of Boston-based GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) continues on many fronts.
On March 17, GLAD filed the first challenge to the federal ban against transgender people serving in the US military since the ban went into effect in April 2019. GLAD filed the case, Doe v. Esper, jointly with the National Center for Lesbian Rights in the federal district court of Massachusetts.
The plaintiff, “Jane Doe,” is stationed in and lives in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, according to the filed complaint.
“Our plaintiff is the first transgender service member to seek emergency relief since the ban went into effect,” said Jennifer Levi, GLAD’s transgender rights project director in a March 18 press release.
“As an experienced officer, all she seeks is the ability to continue serving her country on the same terms as others,” Levi said. “The Navy has invested nearly a decade in her training, and she is committed to serving for years to come. It destabilizes and debases our military to discharge Doe and other highly qualified people under a politically motivated policy that has no basis in anything other than bias. Our current national emergency is a reminder, if we needed any, how critically important it is that the institutions upon which we all rely make decisions based on evidence and competency.”
According to GLAD:
“Doe came out as transgender after the ban went into effect in April 2019. She is not protected by the “grandfather clause” that permits continued military service by transgender troops who came out before the ban. The current policy mandates the discharge of any service member who comes out as transgender and seeks to undergo a gender transition.
“Jane Doe is represented by GLAD and NCLR, which have been at the center of the legal fight challenging the transgender military ban since filing Doe v. Trump, the first of four initial cases filed against the ban, on August 9,
lso represent plaintiffs in a third case challenging the ban, Stockman v. Trump. For more information visit www.notransmilitaryban.org“
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