Former Army secretary Eric Fanning, former Navy Secretary Raymond Mabus, Jr. and former Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James submitted declarations saying that a Pentagon group looked at the transgender issue in 2015 and concluded that "transgender people should be permitted to serve openly" in the armed forces and that banning them would require "the discharge of highly trained and experienced service members, causing unexpected vacancies in operations units, and requiring the expensive and time-consuming recruitment and training of replacement personnel."

Their statements came in a motion seeking an immediate stop to enforcing the transgender ban. It was filed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders.

Ripping trained, experienced servicemembers out of our armed forces — for no reason other that who they are — will leave gaping holes in our defense.

These plaintiffs are dedicated professionals who simply wish to be treated the same. They meet the same standards, do the same work and want nothing more than the chance to continue serving our country.

--Shannon Minter, NCLR

In addition to six unnamed plaintiffs, the lawsuit was brought on behalf of Regan Kibby, a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy, and Dylan Kohere, an ROTC student at the University of New Haven.

The president's ban ruins transgender servicemembers lives for no reason other than who they are.

--Kibby