The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday denied the Trump administration's request to suspend the military's plan to begin accepting transgender recruits on January 1.
A two-paragraph order said Judges Diana Gribbon Motz, Albert Diaz and Pamela Harris on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Virginia are denying the administration's request to delay the Jan. 1 deadline, without further explanation.
The decision sets up the case for a potential appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Pentagon will begin accepting transgender troops into the U.S military on January 1 despite the fact that the Trump administration opposes it.
The new policy reflects growing legal pressure on the issue, and the difficult hurdles the federal government would have to cross to enforce Trump's demand to ban transgender individuals from the military. Two federal courts already have ruled against the ban. Potential transgender recruits will have to overcome a lengthy and strict set of physical, medical and mental conditions that make it possible, though difficult, for them to join the armed services…
…the new guidelines mean the Pentagon can disqualify potential recruits with gender dysphoria, a history of medical treatments associated with gender transition and those who underwent reconstruction. But such recruits are allowed in if a medical provider certifies they've been clinically stable in the preferred sex for 18 months and are free of significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas.
