The Trump administration on Friday said
that it is preparing to move forward with implementation of President
Donald Trump's ban on transgender troops.
In a series of tweets in July 2017,
Trump declared that the military will no longer “accept or allow”
transgender troops to serve “in any capacity,” reversing
Obama-era policy on transgender individuals serving in the military.
The president also said that he was doing the military “a great
favor.”
In a filing Friday before a trial
court, the U.S. Department of Justice signaled its intent to move
forward with the ban. LGBT rights advocates responded by saying that
a court order prohibiting implementation of the ban remains in place.
The government asserted in the filing
that “there is no longer any impediment to the military's
implementation of the Mattis policy” and stated that it plans to
issue a memorandum formally implementing the policy “in the near
future” that will take effect 30 days after its publication.
The filing came a day after U.S.
District Judge George Russell III of Maryland lifted his nationwide
injunction barring enforcement of the ban. In his order, Russell
cited the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in January to allow the
policy to take effect as several cases challenging the ban move
forward.
(Related: Supreme
Court allows Trump's transgender military ban to take effect.)
Law groups representing transgender
plaintiffs in the case before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said
that the ban could not be implemented as they seek an “en banc”
review before the full court.
“The government is wrong,” said
Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian
Rights (NCLR). “The injunction remains in effect until the mandate
issues, and that clearly has not happened. The Court of Appeals has
gone out of its way to give the plaintiffs an opportunity to seek
rehearing en banc before the mandate issues and the injunction is
dissolved.”