WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- A federal judge in Washington on March 18 blocked the Trump administration from banning people who identify as transgender from military service, ruling implementation of the policy would violate the Constitution's equal protection clause.

The ruling comes amid similar efforts by the Trump administration to combat what critics, including Catholic leaders, call "gender ideology," and as a still-pending Supreme Court ruling could change the legal landscape for states' ability to permit or restrict medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender.

"The cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed -- some risking their lives -- to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them," U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes wrote in her opinion.

Just days after the start of his second term, President Donald Trump issued an executive order he said was in "pursuit of military excellence." It argued that recently "the Armed Forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists unconcerned with the requirements of military service like physical and mental health, selflessness, and unit cohesion."

The Pentagon subsequently indicated Feb. 26 it would form a procedure to identify transgender troops by March 26 and discharge them by June 25, such as those who have received a diagnosis of gender dysphoria or other surgical or hormonal treatments, unless they were given an exception.

But Reyes wrote in her opinion that while the president "has the power -- indeed the obligation -- to ensure military readiness." But she argued that at times "leaders have used concern for military readiness to deny marginalized persons the privilege of serving."

"'(Fill in the blank) is not fully capable and will hinder combat effectiveness; (fill in the blank) will disrupt unit cohesion and so diminish military effectiveness; allowing (fill in the blank) to serve will undermine training, make it impossible to recruit successfully, and disrupt military order,'" Reyes wrote. "First minorities, then women in combat, then gays filled in that blank. Today, however, our military is stronger and our Nation is safer for the millions of such blanks (and all other persons) who serve."

In guidance on health care policy and practices released in March 2023, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Doctrine outlined the church's opposition to interventions that "involve the use of surgical or chemical techniques that aim to exchange the sex characteristics of a patient's body for those of the opposite sex or for simulations thereof."

"Any technological intervention that does not accord with the fundamental order of the human person as a unity of body and soul, including the sexual difference inscribed in the body, ultimately does not help but, rather, harms the human person," the document states.

Pope Francis has also frequently criticized "gender ideology" or "gender theory" over his pontificate. He authorized publication of a Vatican declaration "Dignitas Infinita" ("Infinite Dignity") in 2024 calling gender theory "extremely dangerous since it cancels differences in its claim to make everyone equal."

At the same time, the declaration stated, "The Church wishes, first of all, 'to reaffirm that every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration, while 'every sign of unjust discrimination' is to be carefully avoided, particularly any form of aggression and violence.'"

- - - Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.