U.S. Courts Block Trump’s Transgender Military Ban | Sojourners

U.S. Courts Block Trump’s Transgender Military Ban

President Donald Trump delivers remarks to U.S. military personnel at Naval Air Station Sigonella following the G7 Summit, in Sigonella, Sicily, Italy, May 27, 2017. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi

Federal courts in Washington, D.C., barred President Donald Trump from enforcing a ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military on Oct. 30. 

Trump announced in late July that he would not allow transgender individuals to serve in the military, reversing an Obama administration policy. 

A group of transgender service members last month asked the court to block the planned ban while it considers their claims that it violates their U.S. constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under the law. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly stated in her order:

I am directing the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the U.S. Coast Guard, to return to the longstanding policy and practice on military service by transgender individuals that was in place prior to June 2016.

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Reuters reporting contributed to this story.