On August 28, 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union together with the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP filed suit against Donald Trump and the secretaries of defense, the army, the navy and the air force on behalf of six current members of the armed forces who are transgender.
The complaint seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, i.e. a declaration from the District Court of Maryland that the transgender ban is unconstitutional and invalid and an order that transgender persons or service members may not be discharged from, denied entry to, or otherwise receive adverse employment status by the military or denied medically necessary care based on their transgender status.
Like the case pending in the District of Columbia, the case is based on the ban’s violations of the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment as well as a violation of due process pursuant to the Fifth Amendment.