Happy Pride Month, everyone! Settle in for the next 30 days and be thankful it's not 31.
As we reported last month, a judge threw out the human trafficking case against Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia, claiming that it was "vindictive prosecution" by the Trump administration after being embarrassed by having to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. from El Salvador, his home country. Now, in a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel has found that the Trump administration's policy banning transgender individuals from serving in the military is unconstitutional, with one judge writing that it appeared to be driven by "the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group."
BREAKING: Divided appeals court panel rules Trump administration policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service. https://t.co/26ov5w2MJX
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 1, 2026
BREAKING: In a 2-1 ruling, a federal appeals court finds the Trump administration policy to ban transgender individuals from serving in the US military is unconstitutional.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 1, 2026
From Judge Roger Wilkins who wrote the majority opinion:
"The Hegseth policy is both arbitrary and based…
The post continues:
… upon animus, and for those reasons the Policy violates Plaintiff-Appellees' constitutional right to equal protection of the law."
ABC News added that Judge Roger Wilkins wrote that the ban "appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group" and that "the decision only applies to the service members who sued the administration and does not bar the Pentagon from blocking transgender people from joining the military."
Absurd.
— JimmyB 🇺🇸 (@MOTT7) June 1, 2026
Transgender is a mental illness. The military has every right to ban them the same way they ban schizophrenics.
— Pro-America | Politics & Markets (@Pro__Trading) June 1, 2026
Recommended
There is no “right” to join the military.
— Heath Dierks (@Heath_Dierks) June 1, 2026
Seems like having mental delusions about reality would certainly be a valid reason to deny you entry into the military.
— Derek Trulious (@DerekTru) June 1, 2026
We disqualify people for any number of medical conditions. Are activists arguing this isn’t actually medically necessary to have hormones, surgery etc? Cool.
— NH (@TwoQuoque) June 1, 2026
I don’t think people will mental illness should be in the military. I also don’t think that tax dollars should go to pay for some insane man’s fake vagina.
— Palas (@Plutosaplanet22) June 1, 2026
We don't allow paranoid schizophrenics to serve. We don't allow bipolars to serve.
— Cynical Optimist (@ChemPhysMajor) June 1, 2026
Because hallucinations and mania impair judgement and that is unacceptable in the military.
Transgender identification is a mental illness just like the others above, not arbitrary.
Absolute horseshit. I knew several people who did not make it through basic training for problems amazingly minor when compared to believing they were in the wrong body. Serving in the military Is Not A Right. There is NO LAW guaranteeing that you may serve in the military.
— Duper Squatching Duck ⚡️ (@sttngduck) June 1, 2026
So if I have depression I would be barred from the military.
— ConfirmBias (@Fulcrumbs44) June 1, 2026
But if I think I am a man even though I am a woman I can sail on in?
So is disqualifying people for any medical condition or medication now unconstitutional?
— NH (@TwoQuoque) June 1, 2026
No, but you can't disqualify people from "politically unpopular groups." You can disqualify them for hundreds of other reasons, but not that one.
***
