Judge blocks transgender ban in armed forces

Administration did not show need for policy, ruling says

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday barred President Donald Trump’s administration from proceeding with plans to exclude transgender people from military service.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the transgender service members who had sued over Trump’s policy were likely to win their lawsuit. She directed a return to the policy in place before Trump issued his order this summer, saying the administration had provided no solid evidence for why a ban should be implemented.

Trump had ordered a reinstatement of the longstanding policy that barred transgender individuals from joining the military; service members who were revealed to be transgender were subject to discharge. Under President Barack Obama, that policy was changed last year to allow transgender people to serve openly.

The Trump administration may appeal KollarKotelly’s decision, but for now, the proposed ban remains unenforceable under Kollar-Kotelly’s preliminary injunction.

“We disagree with the court’s ruling and are currently evaluating the next steps,” said Justice Department spokesman Lauren Ehrsam.

She reiterated the department’s view that the lawsuit was premature because the Pentagon was still in the process of reviewing how the transgender policy might evolve.

One of the attorneys handling the lawsuit, Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said the ruling was an enormous relief to his clients.

“Their lives have been devastated since Trump first tweeted he was reinstating the ban,” Minter said. “They are now able to serve on equal terms with everyone else.”

Trump announced on Twitter in July that the government “will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” He followed with an August memo directing the Pentagon to extend indefinitely a ban on transgender individuals joining the military, and gave Defense Secretary Jim Mattis six months to come up with a policy on “how to address” those who are currently serving.

Under the Obama administration, the Department of Defense had announced in 2016 that service members could not be discharged solely based on their gender identity. Transgender individuals were to be allowed to enlist in the military in June 2017, a timeline initially delayed under the Trump administration to Jan. 1, 2018.

Minter said the new court ruling means they will be able to enlist as of that date.

The Trump administration had asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit; KollarKotelly refused to do so, and Minter said it’s possible the case will go to trial.

The lawsuit was filed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) on behalf of eight transgender individuals, including service members in the Air Force, Coast Guard and the Army, as well as students at the U.S. Naval Academy and in the ROTC program at the University of New Haven.