Equality California has joined two California residents who wish to serve in the military and a group of transgender service members who are currently serving in a lawsuit filed yesterday against the Trump administration.
Los Angeles County Judge Gregory Keosian dismissed Richard Simmons lawsuit against National Enquirer owner American Media, saying that "it is simply not libelous or defamatory to call someone transgender."
Misidentification of a person as transgender is not actionable defamation .... The court will not validate those prejudices by legally recognizing them.
--Judge Keosian
Former Army secretary Eric Fanning, former Navy Secretary Raymond Mabus, Jr.
On Monday, two more lawsuits were filed against the Trump administration challenging the ban on military service by transgender people.
A FreeState Justice has filed a lawsuit in Federal court against Talbot County on behalf of a 14-year-old Maryland transgender boy accusing an Eastern Shore school system of violating Title IX by denying him access to locker rooms consistent with his gender identity.
The boy, who was not identified in the lawsuit, will be a ninth grader at St. Michaels Middle-High School, and wants to try out for soccer in August, according to Jer Welter, FreeState Justice's deputy director and managing attorney.
During last school year, the boy used a gender neutral restroom far from the gym and his classrooms.
This has been a problem. It is stigmatizing for him. It marks him as different from the other students.
--Welter
