Federal court blocks Trump ban on transgender service members

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has issued a preliminary injunction against President Donald Trump's memorandum banning transgender individuals from serving in the military.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly had blocked provisions of the memorandum concerning the enlistment and retention of transgender military service members but allowed the ban on the Department of Defense using funds for sex reassignment surgery.

Trump announced his decision to ban transgender individuals from serving in the military in July, saying the issue is a distraction and would place a burden on the finances of the Armed Forces.

Shortly after the announcement, five service members filed a lawsuit challenging the ban, with the support of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders.

In partially granting a preliminary injunction pending appeal, Kollar-Kotelly said that the plaintiffs are "likely to succeed" on their due process claims.

The judge noted that her order would "revert to the status quo" that existed before Trump's memo was issued on Aug. 25.

According to CNN, the memo indefinitely extended a prohibition against transgender individuals joining the military and it required the military to authorize the discharge of transgender service members by no later than March 23, 2018.

In allowing the government ban on paying for sex reassignment surgeries, Kollar-Kotelly explained that none of the plaintiffs have demonstrated that they are "substantially likely to be impacted" by the directive. She noted that none of them have proven that they would not be able to obtain their desired operations before the prohibition takes effect in March 2018.

Trump administration lawyers contended that the lawsuit was premature because the Pentagon is still studying how to implement the directive and no action would be taken until the policy review is completed.

They asked Kollar-Kotelly to dismiss the case, but the judge declined the request, ruling that even though the policy was still subject to review, the government's arguments "wither away under scrutiny."

"The Memorandum unequivocally directs the military to prohibit indefinitely the accession of transgender individuals and to authorize their discharge, this decision has already been made," she wrote.

Justice Department spokeswoman Lauren Ehrsam said, "we disagree with the court's ruling and are currently evaluating the next steps."

"Plaintiffs' lawsuit challenging military service requirements is premature for many reasons, including that the Defense Department is actively reviewing such service requirements, as the President ordered, and because none of the Plaintiffs have established that they will be impacted by current policies on military service," she added.