Chase Strangio on Instagram: "Yesterday the Supreme Court allowed Trump’s sweeping and animus-driven ban on open trans military service to go into effect. In a 6-3 order with no reasoning or written opinions, the Court opened the door to the mass expulsion of trans people from the military. This is a devastating development in Trump-related litigation but I wanted to also offer some context about the legal standards in military litigation where the courts afford wide latitude to the federal executive. That does not mean this Court is not ready to green light many forms of discrimination and executive power grabs, they are. But I wanted to at least calibrate what this particular action means in light of decades of terrible precedent around the military. When we think about concepts like “restoring the rule of law” and living under “a police state” it feels important to remember that the rule of law is itself violent and that many people have been constructively if not explicitly living
2,658 likes, 46 comments - chasestrangio on May 7, 2025: "Yesterday the Supreme Court allowed Trump’s sweeping and animus-driven ban on open trans military service to go into effect. In a 6-3 order with no reasoning or written opinions, the Court opened the door to the mass expulsion of trans people from the military. This is a devastating development in Trump-related litigation but I wanted to also offer some context about the legal standards in military litigation where the courts afford wide latitude to the federal executive. That does not mean this Court is not ready to green light many forms of discrimination and executive power grabs, they are. But I wanted to at least calibrate what this particular action means in light of decades of terrible precedent around the military.
When we think about concepts like “restoring the rule of law” and living under “a police state” it feels important to remember that the rule of law is itself violent and that many people have been constructively if not explicitly living under a police state here for decades and longer.
Each action from each branch of government builds on frameworks that were built over centuries and our resistance will continue no matter what this or any government tries to do to us.
We are undeniably facing many existential threats and also we retain our ability to love and care for each other and mobilize every day.".
