A federal court in Washington is barring President Donald Trump from changing the government's policy on military service by transgender people. Trump announced in an August memo that he intended to reverse course on a 2016 policy that allowed troops to serve openly as transgender individuals. He said he would order a return to the policy prior to June 2016, under which service members could be discharged for being transgender. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote Monday that transgender members of the military who had sued over the change were likely to win their lawsuit and barred the Trump administration from reversing course.The government had argued that the lawsuit was premature and moved to dismiss the case because the policy is still subject to review.Kollar-Kotelly said in her opinion that the president’s directives are “not genuinely based on legitimate concerns regarding military effectiveness or budget constraints, but are instead driven by a desire to express disapproval of transgender people generally.”On July 26 Trump issued a statement via Twitter announcing that “the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” A presidential memorandum later required the military to remove transgender service members by authorizing their discharge no later than March 23, 2018.Before a presidential memorandum in August, the Department of Defense had announced that openly transgender individuals would be allowed to enlist in the military, effective Jan. 1, 2018, and had prohibited the discharge of service members based solely on their gender identities, the court summarized.The Associated Press and CNN contributed.

A federal court in Washington is barring President Donald Trump from changing the government's policy on military service by transgender people.

Trump announced in an August memo that he intended to reverse course on a 2016 policy that allowed troops to serve openly as transgender individuals. He said he would order a return to the policy prior to June 2016, under which service members could be discharged for being transgender.

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U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote Monday that transgender members of the military who had sued over the change were likely to win their lawsuit and barred the Trump administration from reversing course.



The government had argued that the lawsuit was premature and moved to dismiss the case because the policy is still subject to review.



Kollar-Kotelly said in her opinion that the president’s directives are “not genuinely based on legitimate concerns regarding military effectiveness or budget constraints, but are instead driven by a desire to express disapproval of transgender people generally.”



On July 26 Trump issued a statement via Twitter announcing that “the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” A presidential memorandum later required the military to remove transgender service members by authorizing their discharge no later than March 23, 2018.

Before a presidential memorandum in August, the Department of Defense had announced that openly transgender individuals would be allowed to enlist in the military, effective Jan. 1, 2018, and had prohibited the discharge of service members based solely on their gender identities, the court summarized.

The Associated Press and CNN contributed.

