A federal judge denied the request by President Donald Trump’s administration to enforce his ban on transgender troops. As a result, starting from January 1 transgender recruits will be able to join the military.
Pentagon said that it will begin processing transgender applicants, but the Justice Department appealed the ruling, CNN reports.
Earlier this year, Trump issued a memorandum and directed the secretary of defense to bar transgender recruits. Transgender soldiers have challenged the memorandum and have so far had success in blocking the policy from going into effect.
According to the administration, the deadline was problematic because thousands of personnel would have to be trained on the medical standards required to process transgender applicants, but Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly rejected those concerns and emphasized that preparations for accepting transgender soldiers were under way while Barack Obama was president, Reuters reports.
The Justice Department appealed the ruling to a DC-based federal appeals court.
“Plaintiffs’ lawsuit challenging military service requirements is premature for many reasons, including that the Defense Department is actively reviewing such service requirements, as the President ordered, and because none of the Plaintiffs have established that they will be impacted by current policies on military service,” Justice Department spokeswoman Lauren Ehrsam stated.
The Pentagon said last week that it established a panel of experts to propose recommendations on the issue.
“The Deputy Secretary of Defense and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, supported by a panel of experts, will propose consideration recommendations supported by appropriate evidence and information for the accession of transgender persons into the military,” US Army Major Dave Eastburn said.
Provisions of Trump’s prohibition on transgender persons serving in the military have been blocked by two federal judges. Marvin Garbis in Maryland ruled last month that currently serving transgender service members were already suffering harmful consequences and did not allow the administration to block those challenging the ban from completing their medically necessary surgeries.
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