U.S. military to accept transgender recruits on Monday: Pentagon

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

#POLITICS DECEMBER 29, 2017 / 2:18 PM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO

U.S. military to accept transgender recruits on Monday: Pentagon

Lawrence Hurley, Idrees Ali
5 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Transgender people will be allowed for the first time to enlist in the U.S. military starting on Monday as ordered by federal courts, the Pentagon said on Friday, after President Donald Trump’s administration decided not to appeal rulings that blocked his transgender ban.

Two federal appeals courts, one in Washington and one in Virginia, last week rejected the administration’s request to put on hold orders by lower court judges requiring the military to begin accepting transgender recruits on Jan. 1.

A Justice Department official said the administration will not challenge those rulings.

“The Department of Defense has announced that it will be releasing an independent study of these issues in the coming weeks. So rather than litigate this interim appeal before that occurs, the administration has decided to wait for DOD’s study and will continue to defend the president’s lawful authority in District Court in the meantime,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-transgender/u-s-military-to-accept-transgender-recruits-on-monday-pentagon-idUSKBN1EN1LV

[Gothmog]

1. Trump Administration Relents, for Now: Trans Americans May Enlist in the Military Starting Monday

Trump loses another lawsuit https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/12/trump-administration-wont-appeal-trans-troops-ban-to-the-supreme-court.html

On Friday night, the Trump administration announced that it will not ask the Supreme Court to stay a lower court order requiring the military to accept transgender recruits starting on Monday. This move provides the first indication that the government may ultimately relent in the face of four successful court challenges to President Donald Trump’s proposed ban on transgender service. It raises the possibility that Trump’s own Department of Defense will endorse qualified trans individuals’ right to serve their country without discrimination. And it means that, for the first time ever, openly transgender Americans may enlist in the armed forces beginning on New Year’s Day.

Transgender troops have been permitted to serve openly since June 2016, and the Pentagon had planned to let openly trans people enlist starting in 2018. But in July, Trump declared via Twitter that he would impose an absolute ban on trans service. His decision was remarkable in light of the fact that the military had already commissioned a study that found that trans service had no adverse impact on the armed forces. Moreover, every branch of the military, as well as the Pentagon, had studied the issue and concluded that trans Americans should be able to serve openly. Trump’s decision appeared the be the result of pure partisan appeasement.