Supreme Court Allows Trump Military Transgender Ban To Proceed
WASHINGTON (CBS SF / AP) -- The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to go ahead with its plan to restrict military service by transgender people while court challenges continue.
The high court on Tuesday reversed lower-court orders preventing the Pentagon from implementing its plans. But the high court for now declined to take up cases about the plan. The cases will continue to move through lower courts.
Military policy had barred service by transgender people until President Barack Obama's administration began allowing transgender people already in the military to serve openly and set a date when transgender people would be allowed to enlist.
President Donald Trump's administration has revisited those policies. The Trump administration has sought to generally restrict service by transgender people to only those who do not seek to undergo gender transitions.
In a written statement, Rick Zbur of Equality California, which brought a case against the ban, condemned the decision.
"Thousands of brave transgender troops around the world are currently serving our nation with honor," Zbur said. "Their patriotism and sacrifice should be celebrated, not cruelly dismissed by a president who clearly cares more about delivering on campaign promises than he does about our national security."
Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco also blasted the court's move, saying the president's plan "was purpose-built to humiliate brave men & women seeking to serve their country."
© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
