RELIGION HEADLINES

(SRN NEWS) – The first lawsuits have been filed against President Trump’s executive order revising policy on transgender troops.  Six transgender active-duty service members and two former service members seeking re-enlistment have filed suit in federal court in Washington.  The president’s order sets the stage for an across-the-board ban on transgender troops in the armed forces. The lawsuit was filed by the same group of lawyers that fought Mr. Trump’s transgender ban in his first term. Joe Biden scrapped the ban when he became president. 

President Trump has signed an executive order aimed at cutting federal support for sex-change operations on anyone under the age of 19.  The order is the latest effort by Mr. Trump to reverse policies set in place by the Biden administration that critics say promote transgenderism and harm children.  The president has already directed the Pentagon to conduct a review that is likely to lead to transgender people being barred from military service.  In his first week in office, Mr. Trump announced that the federal government will only recognize two sexes — male and female. 

A trial over North Dakota’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for kids is underway in Bismarck.  Three families and a pediatric endocrinologist alleged in a lawsuit filed in 2023 that the law violates the state constitution.  Then-Governor Doug Burgum signed the ban, which includes an exemption for kids who were receiving so-called “gender affirming care” before the new law took effect.  North Dakota is one of more than two dozen states that have banned sex-change operations and the use of puberty-blocking drugs on children. 

The Department of Education is investigating Denver Public Schools for alleged discrimination.  The district converted a girl’s restroom on the second floor of East High School into an all-gender restroom while leaving the other bathroom exclusively for male students. The probe into the bathroom at East High School marks a sharp departure from the department’s investigations under former President Joe Biden, which sought to promote transgenderism in the schools.  Parental outrage over the Biden policy helped fuel President Trump’s election in November.