Published Jun 30, 2026, 6:44 PM EDT
A court ruled Tuesday that current, future transgender military personnel will all be lumped together as one class as lawsuits remain ongoing.
Current and future transgender military service members have claimed a new victory after a court granted a motion for class certification as part of a legal battle that began in January 2025. The Federal District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday afternoon granted a motion for class certification in Talbott v. USA (formerly Talbott v. Trump), the ongoing legal challenge to the transgender military ban pushed by President Donald Trump and executed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The ruling for class certification allows plaintiffs to seek to extend protections won in Talbott v. Trump to all transgender service members currently serving, in addition to ensuring that future rulings against the transgender military ban will apply to all members of the class. The National Center for LGBTQ Rights and GLAD Law represent the plaintiffs, filing a motion on April 15, 2026, seeking to certify a class of all transgender individuals who are or were in active-duty service or pursuing accession in the military on or after January 28, 2025, the date Talbott v. USA was initially filed. This latest ruling follows a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit made June 1 of this year, upholding a district court’s preliminary injunction and halting the discharge of the Talbott service member plaintiffs. “The protection afforded to our plaintiffs should be available to all transgender service members and their families,” National Center for LGBTQ Rights legal director Shannon Minter said in a statement. “We know that this ban is discriminatory, rooted in animus, and irrationally excludes highly decorated service members who have deployed around the world and given everything to our country.”
