In the wake of the latest federal court ruling allowing the implementation of the Trump administration’s ban on transgender troops, the Pentagon says currently serving transgender troops can stay while the legal battles continue.
“Transgender service members that are currently serving will continue to serve, and those individuals with gender dysphoria who’ve had medical treatment will not be allowed to serve,” said Charles Summer, acting chief spokesman for the Pentagon.
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On Thursday, a federal judge in Maryland ruled that a January decision by the Supreme Court meant he could no longer block the Trump administration from putting its policy in place while various legal challenges make their way through the courts.
The interim policy will allow current service members who have transitioned to a different gender to continue to serve.
New recruits and troops who have not transitioned may serve if they do so in the gender they were assigned at birth. How they dress and what they do in their off-duty time is up to them, so long as they don’t have surgery or other treatment to change their gender, a Pentagon spokesperson said.
It will likely be up to the Supreme Court ultimately to decide if Trump’s ban on transgender troops is constitutional.
The Pentagon insists its policy is based on readiness and that troops who require extensive medical treatment are not available to be deployed.
