The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia blocked the Trump administration’s ban on transgenders serving in the military Monday.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly granted a preliminary injunction Monday, which means that the Trump administration’s ban on transgender troops from continuing to serve or enlisting cannot be enforced while the case is still being litigated.
However, Kollar-Kotelly allowed the ban on the Department of Defense using funds for sex reassignment surgery.
President Donald Trump tweeted July 26 that he intended to ban transgenders from serving in the military, citing medical costs and disruption as justification for the move. A month later, Trump signed a memo implementing the announcement, which effectively prohibited any transgender from joining the military without specific recommendation from Secretary of Defense James Mattis or the head of the Department of Homeland Security.
The memo also blocked any use of Pentagon or DHS resources for sex reassignment surgery unless the treatment is already ongoing. Moreover, the memo leaves it up to Mattis whether existing transgenders in uniform will be allowed to continue serving. The deadline for making this last decision is March 2018.
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