A United States district judge on Monday blocked Donald Trump from enforcing a ban on transgender people serving in the military. The ruling, which prevents the military from discharging current service members for being trans, is the first judicial response to the numerous lawsuits pending against Trump’s transgender troop ban. “We are enormously relieved for our plaintiffs and other transgender service members,” Shannon Minter, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told the AP. They are now able to serve on equal terms with everyone else.”Trump first announced a ban on military service for transgender people in a series of tweets on 26 July. Barack Obama ordered a longtime ban on transgender service lifted after an inquiry led by his defense secretary, Ashton Carter, concluded the ban’s reversal was unlikely to have a negative impact on military readiness.

Source: The Guardian October 30, 2017 18:18 UTC