On his first day in office, President Donald Trump rescinded a previous executive order allowing transgender troops to openly serve. 

An expert with an LGBTQ+-rights group, Lambda Legal, said Tuesday in a news conference that the repeal of the previous order is not itself a ban on transgender troops. 

But Trump could be heading back in that direction, since he banned transgender troops from serving during his first term. While his order was held up in the courts for a few years, the Trump policy took effect in 2019.

Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, an attorney with Lambda Legal, said Tuesday he didn’t believe Trump’s actions constituted a ban yet. 

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“At present, transgender service members can continue serving openly,” he said, during a news conference held by the American Civil Liberties Union. 

But Lambda Legal would be ready to sue in the event of a ban, he said, as it did previously. 

A Defense Department spokesman had no information to share about whether Trump’s actions constituted a ban. 

The percentage of transgender troops is likely small, compared to about 2 million service members in the armed forces. In 2018, a public report by the Palm Center estimated, using Defense Department data, that 14,700 troops were transgender. The Palm Center previously worked on LGBTQ+ research and advocacy. It is now closed. 

Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth has promised to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion programs and has made many controversial statements around women in combat roles and the LGBTQ+ community in military service. 

During his confirmation hearing, Hegseth said he wished to see troops held to the same high standards regardless of their gender. 

He also said he supported the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a policy that allowed members the LGBTQ+ community to serve as long as they didn’t reveal their sexual orientation. 

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said in a statement Tuesday that a ban against transgender troops takes away the freedom of those fighting to protect the freedom of all.  

“Prohibiting transgender individuals from service undermines our nation’s values and readiness at the very moment our military is needed. Whether they serve in the Red Sea, the Asia-Pacific region, or here close to home, they serve so that so many Americans do not have to. This policy eschews our nation’s values of liberty and justice for all,” the statement said.