Judge Compares Trump’s Military Transgender Ban to Historical ‘Errors’

A federal judge in Seattle pushed ahead with a challenge to President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military, comparing the government’s case to historical errors by courts that decades ago signed off on excluding people based on race and gender.

“We gave historical deference when we excluded blacks from the military," U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman said at a hearing Tuesday. "We gave deference when we did not have mixed military units” and when the U.S. barred gays and lesbians from serving, she said. “And in retrospect all of that deference was in error.”