Trans troops OK to serve — fed judge

TRANSGENDER people will be allowed to serve in the U.S. military, despite President Trump’s repeated opposition, Pentagon officials announced Monday.

The announcement, which will take effect Jan. 1, came hours after Federal Judge Colleen Kolla-Kotelly denied a motion from the Trump administration to delay the enlistment of transgender troops. Two other federal judges had already ruled against the proposed ban, which Trump proposed on Twitter this past summer, drawing widespread ire.

Pentagon spokesman Maj. David Eastburn explained that the new guidelines come with a few strings attached. For instance, recruits with gender dysphoria will undergo additional screening and can be disqualified if they display significant distress or social and occupational impairment.

Nonetheless, LGBT rights activists lauded the announcement.

“The military has studied this issue extensively and determined that permitting qualified transgender people to enlist and serve will only strengthen our nation’s armed forces,” Shannon Minter, the legal director of National Center for Lesbian Rights, said in a statement.

Despite the Pentagon directive and the repeated court failures, the Department of Justice is looking into legal options to “ensure” that Trump’s proposed ban can be implemented, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday.