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ARTICLE
ARTICLEHeads up, Trump: Your tweets have consequences.
Toward the end of July, President Donald Trump sent out three infamous tweets banning transgender people from serving in the military, and now he's being sued for them.
SEE ALSO: Ivanka learned about her dad's transgender military ban just like the rest of us — on Twitter"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military," the president wrote.
Trump's tweets were met with an immediate backlash, with everyone from Joe Biden to J.K. Rowling decrying the ban.
But now, five active duty transgender service members — including three U.S. Army soldiers, one U.S. Air Force airman, and one member of the U.S. Coast Guard — are fighting back against the ban and have filed a lawsuit against Trump for his Twitter directive.
According to a press release, the federal lawsuit filed by the GLAD and the National Center for Lesbian Rights represents five unnamed service members who, in relying on the U.S. Department of Defense's current transgender policy — which states that "transgender service members may serve openly, and they can no longer be discharged or otherwise separated from the military solely for being transgender individuals" — argue Trump's ban is unconstitutional.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General Joe Dunford, explained in an internal memo obtained by Politicothat tweets do not make official policies.
However, the court filings state Trump's tweets have "already resulted in immediate, concrete injury to Plaintiffs by unsettling and destabilizing plaintiffs' reasonable expectation of continued service," and that the White House is using those social media posts as "official guidance, approved by the White House counsel's office, to be communicated to the Department of Defense."
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"Because they identified themselves as transgender in reliance on (the Obama-era) earlier promise, Plaintiffs have lost the stability and certainty they had in their careers and benefits, including post-military and retirement benefits that depend on the length of their service," the attorneys wrote in the court filing.
"Plaintiffs have served honorably and successfully in the military since coming out as transgender, and their transgender status has not had any detrimental effect on their ability to serve or to fulfill their duties," they added.
Back in 2016 during Obama's presidency it was announced that the Pentagon planned to repeal its ban on transgender members on July 1. However, military leaders submitted a request for the process to be delayed, which was approved by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
Since Trump's Twitter ban, no official action has been taken in regards to transgender people serving in the military.