The Department of Defense late Tuesday
unveiled its plan to implement President Donald Trump's ban on
transgender troops.
The agency said in a 15-page memo that
its policy would take effect April 12.
While the policy would prohibit most
transgender people from serving, the memo claims it is not banning
transgender military service because it will allow transgender people
to enlist who have not been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and are
willing to serve in their biological sex. Also, the policy would
likely allow currently serving transgender troops to remain in the
armed forces.
The announcement comes just days after
a judge in Maryland lifted his nationwide injunction barring
enforcement of the ban. In his order, the judge 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.
GLAD, one of the groups challenging
implementation of the ban in court, maintains that one court
injunction prohibiting implementation remains in place.
“Not only does the Trump-Pence
transgender military ban violate the Constitution, but now the
administration is also defying a court order,” said Jennifer Levi,
director of GLAD's transgender rights project. “With brazen
disregard for the judicial process, the Pentagon is prematurely and
illegally rolling out a plan to implement the ban when a court
injunction remains in place prohibiting them from doing so.