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A Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Ban On Transgender Troops In the Military

The LGBTQ community is celebrating a win. This Monday, October 30th, a federal judge blocked Trump’s transgender military ban. For those who were unaware of this ban, President Trump released a statement on July 26th of this year, announcing that  “the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military”.  The announcement was followed a formal Presidential Memorandum on August 25th, entirely bending the policy set during Obama’s last year of presidency.

This was a low punch to the LGBT+ community, affecting many on-service transgender individuals and future enlisting individuals. A lawsuit filed under ‘Jane Doe’ fought back against Trump’s Transgender ban policy, which was still in the process of studying a way to implement it. Trump’s administration asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing it was premature since the Pentagon was still working on studying the policy. Federal judge Kollar-Kotelly, of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, declined Trump’s petition to wait and went forward with the case.

The court’s ruling prevents the Pentagon from enforcing Trump’s ban on transgender troops and to “revert to status quo”, meaning the previous policy set in June 2016, when then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced transgender troops could no longer be kicked out for their gender identity.

As a response to this new ruling that has halted Trump’s transgender ban policy, the LGBTQ community can celebrate the injunction as a victory against Trump’s hatred. Because that was the fume behind Trump’s policy, his hatred towards the LGBT+ community. The president of GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), Sara K. Ellis expressed her say on the court;s decision as “a major step forward in exposing President’s Trump policy as a hate-fueled attack”. We couldn’t agree more.

Federal Judge Kollar-Kotelly also called the “unusual circumstances surrounding the President’s announcement” and stated that all of the President’s reasons for banning transgenders from the military were unsupported and contradicted recent studies and the military’s own judgment.

Trump’s intent to take away the possibility of enlisting in the military for those transgender individuals aspiring to and those who are already members of the military has been blocked, just as it should. The president cannot change laws according to his transphobic ideas, there are rights and previous policies standing, and there are Judges who will not allow his unsupported hate-fueled policies to be implemented.

Photo: Ted Eytan / Flickr

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