U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly today (Monday, Dec. 11), denied the Trump administration’s request to delay an order requiring the U.S. military to begin accepting transgender recruits as of Jan. 1.
The same judge issued an order last month blocking Trump’s planned ban on open military service by transgender men and women, a decision he announced last summer via tweet that reversed the Obama administration’s 2016 decision to completely lift the ban transgender people in the military. Had the ban been implemented, not only would no trans recruits be accepted into the military, trans men and women already serving in the military would have been forced to resign.
“The court is not persuaded that defendants will be irreparably injured” by meeting the Jan. 1 deadline for allowing transgender people to enlist.
Kollar-Kotelly continued, “With only a brief hiatus, defendants have had the opportunity to prepare for the accession of transgender individuals into the military … . Especially in light of the record evidence showing, with specifics, that considerable work has already been done, the court is not convinced by the vague claims in [the government’s] declaration that a stay is needed.”
Attorneys representing the Trump administration said that forcing the military
Forcing the military to accept transgender applicants and implement such a significant change in policy may “negatively impact military readiness,” government lawyers had said in asking for the delay.
