Furrow after Trump’s military transgender ban

WAS-HINGTON AFP JULY27,

2017 President Donald Trump’s announcement that transgender troops are no longer welcome in the US military caught the Pentagon off guard, leaving officials scrambling for a coherent response.

Trump’s tweeted decree upended years of progressive personnel reform in the military, which in recent years has opened the door for women to fight in front-line combat roles and lifted a ban on gay people openly serving. That means transgender troops who were encouraged to come out under one administration now face getting booted under another -- a potential legal quagmire for the Pentagon.

Already, advocacy and civil rights groups are drawing up court challenges.