Brown Goldstein & Levy partner Eve Hill and co-counsel filed a lawsuit on behalf of three military families, challenging an abrupt Department of Defense directive to prohibit military clinics and hospitals from providing continuing medical care for their transgender adolescent and adult children. The new policy also prohibits TRICARE, the military insurance plan, from covering the costs of care for both transgender youth and young adults no matter where it is received, despite being able to receive this care for nearly a decade.
Eve filed the complaint alongside attorneys from GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR), and Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
The lawsuit alleges that the new restrictions were imposed without statutory authority, without the notice-and-comment procedures required by the Administrative Procedure Act, and without providing TRICARE beneficiaries the notice that federal law mandates before benefits are reduced.
“This is not an abstract policy shift—it is an immediate and devastating disruption of essential healthcare that affects the physical and psychological wellbeing of Plaintiffs and other young people throughout the country,” the case filing reads.
The DOD directive – which stops coverage of medically necessary care, including prescriptions – puts the health of plaintiffs and other transgender military dependents across the country in profound jeopardy, as they can no longer see their trusted doctor without having to pay exorbitant costs.
This policy reversal is just the latest of the Trump administration’s blatant attacks on transgender Americans. Earlier this year, Eve won a temporary restraining order on behalf of three transgender women in Washington, D.C., preventing the Bureau of Prisons from implementing the Trump administration’s executive order to move all transgender women to men’s facilities and stop their hormone treatment.
In a blog post from earlier this year, Eve wrote, “In targeting gender dysphoria, the Trump administration puts at risk the protections relied on by countless people with disabilities every day. We must fight to resist any and all attempts to undermine the ADA and ensure that all people—regardless of gender identity or disability status—are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness.” Read Eve’s full post here.
BGL is committed to fighting to make sure that LGBTQIA+ people are protected from discrimination of all kinds. We draw on decades of experience in civil rights cases to provide representation. We represent LGBTQ+ clients in all areas of the law including employment, family, insurance coverage, and criminal defense. We have pursued cases on behalf of students whose schools censor LGBTQ+ content and on behalf of employees whose employers refuse to extend health insurance coverage to their same-sex spouses. We are also proud to partner with other organizations to advocate for LGBTQ+ equality in the law and to shape policy. Learn more about our LGBTQ+ rights practice here.
ABOUT EVE HILL
Eve Hill is one of the nation’s leading civil rights lawyers, known especially for her work with clients with disabilities and LGBTQ+ clients. She was recognized by Chambers in 2025 for her Litigation: Mainly Plaintiffs work in the District of Columbia. Eve was also named as one of just 12 “Titans of the Plaintiffs’ Bar” for 2023 by Law360. Also, Lawdragon named her as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2022, 2023, and 2024). Her wide-ranging experience complements Brown Goldstein & Levy’s decades of dedication to high-impact disability rights cases and its advocacy on behalf of individuals with disabilities and their families. Eve is a long-time board member for the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, a national legal advocacy organization advancing and protecting the civil rights of adults and children with mental illness. Eve also leads Inclusivity, BGL’s Strategic Consulting Group, which works with organizations to promote the education, engagement, and employment of people with disabilities. Learn more about Eve here.
ABOUT BROWN GOLDSTEIN & LEVY
Founded in 1982, Brown Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, D.C. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, and criminal defense. Above all else, Brown Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice.
PLEASE FIND MEDIA COVERAGE BELOW
Transgender Military Kids Face ‘Profound Harm’ from Health Care Restrictions, Lawsuit Alleges | Military.com (September 8, 2025)
Military Families Challenge Abrupt Loss of Health Care for Transgender Dependents Under Trump Administration Directive | GLAD Law (September 8, 2025)