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| Trump order would ban most transgender troops from serving, setting stage for court battle |
| 2018-03-26 |
| [LATimes] President Trump's order late Friday that bans transgender individuals from serving in the armed forces except under "limited circumstances" sets the stage for a legal battle and an eventual Supreme Court ruling on whether the government can discriminate against people because of their gender status. The White House order follows through on Trump's promise to reverse an Obama-era policy that allowed transgender troops to serve openly for the first time. Individuals with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria ‐ that is, people who identify as being a gender other than what they were assigned at birth ‐ are generally ineligible for military service, the new order says, arguing that they "present considerable risk to military effectiveness and lethality." The new ban will apply to transgender individuals who require substantial medical treatment, including medication and surgery. The policy shift, announced late on a Friday evening, hours after Trump had left for a weekend in Florida, is the latest twist in a politically fraught controversy that began unexpectedly last summer when he called, in a tweet, for banning transgender troops, catching the Pentagon off guard. The new order bars the Pentagon from enlisting recruits who have undergone gender transition treatment and could require kicking out some active-duty troops. However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... the order gives Defense Secretary James N. Mattis leeway to retain those who have served openly since doing so was authorized. Current transgender service members could remain in the armed forces if they have been "stable for 36 consecutive months in their biological sex" before joining the military and are able to deploy overseas, according to a memo by Mattis outlining the new policy released Friday. Service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria after joining the military could remain if they do not undergo gender reassignment, the memo said. Troops diagnosed while the Obama policy was in effect "may continue to serve in their preferred gender" and to receive treatment. Transgender individuals without a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria are free to serve, it said. Administration officials say the order creates an objective standard for prohibiting transgender individuals from serving ‐ a contention certain to be tested in court. However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... the order will have no immediate impact, lawyers said, because four federal district judges issued nationwide orders last year that blocked Trump's original, more far-reaching proposal from taking effect. In December, two U.S. appeals courts ‐ in Washington, D.C., and Virginia ‐ refused emergency requests from administration lawyers to lift lower court orders and maintain an enlistment ban. "It must be remembered," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said, that the transgender individuals who went to court seek "to serve their nation with honor and dignity, volunteering to face extreme hardships, to endure lengthy deployments and separation from family and friends and to willingly make the ultimate sacrifice of their lives if necessary." The Supreme Court has not ruled on the issue of transgender rights. In its only case on the issue, in 2016, the justices in a brief order set aside a lower court's ruling that would have required a Virginia high school to allow a transgender boy to use the boys' restroom. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #14 "And the reason we're having this particular discussion' is Obama's evilness. That an extremely small segment of our society is able to partially paralyze our military is astounding to me, and that's all on the community organizer. " Amein |
| Posted by: newc 2018-03-26 23:32 |
| #13 The greatest thing about P.Trump, I mean the GREATEST, is that he is forcing confrontation on these unhappy discussions! And the reason we're having this particular discussion' is Obama's evilness. That an extremely small segment of our society is able to partially paralyze our military is astounding to me, and that's all on the community organizer. |
| Posted by: Raj 2018-03-26 15:38 |
| #12 The point is, these people are not focused on combat. The Armed Services are not a right and it is not a proving ground for every lefty fad they bring up. |
| Posted by: newc 2018-03-26 15:01 |
| #11 Ditto Skid. A pox on the the UniParty. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2018-03-26 13:16 |
| #10 The greatest thing about P.Trump, I mean the GREATEST, is that he is forcing confrontation on these unhappy discussions! |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2018-03-26 12:13 |
| #9 Didn't Secretary Mattis recently declare that if you're not deployable, you need to get out? Doesn't matter if you can't deploy because of family obligations, medical conditions, or whatever. Any transgender who needs hormone treatment will not be deployable. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2018-03-26 11:45 |
| #8 The clearest definition of 'Delusional' I can imagine is an individual who either cannot or will not reconcile themselves to physical reality. That is a pretty major derangement and the idea that the entire social order should accomodate this madness is ridiculous. There is no place where things get any more real than armed conflict, large or small. |
| Posted by: Cesare 2018-03-26 10:07 |
| #7 War is tough enough on mental health- does it make sense to start out with mentally ill soldiers? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2018-03-26 09:42 |
| #6 Troops that have chronic health issues and require a steady supply of meds are labeled as "non-deployable" and usually flagged to bar to re-enlistment unless they have some critical MOS and the military is short handed. Transgenders need a constant supply of meds/hormones to maintain their new gender and thus they would fall under the non-deployable as well. If they try to enlist as transgendered, they could be bared for that. If they choose to do it in the service, they can be barred to re-enlist for medical reasons. This sets up a perfectly logical reason why a ban on them serving is justified. And because it is reasonable I expect the courts to overturn it and force our military to try to get them hormone treatments in the middle of some sandy ass place during a firefight. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2018-03-26 09:30 |
| #5 "It must be remembered," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said, that the transgender individuals who went to court seek "to serve their nation with honor and dignity, volunteering to face extreme hardships, to endure lengthy deployments and separation from family and friends and to willingly make the ultimate sacrifice of their lives if necessary." On that rationale, strike down limitations dealing with the Americans With Disabilities Act and the age limitations. The military is NOT about the individual wishes. It's about dealing with an enemy who sets the environment where failure is death. Hey, judges, why do you have a separate set of laws governing the military that you don't have on civilians? /rhet question |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2018-03-26 09:03 |
| #4 May work in US Golf Force. Deployments usually only 3-4 months. Mite not work in military. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2018-03-26 08:12 |
| #3 assigned at birth And who did the assigning, hmmmmmmm? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2018-03-26 07:53 |
| #2 Who wouldn't want an army of Bradley Mannings? |
| Posted by: Ulolump Grumble1426 2018-03-26 07:08 |
| #1 Ban them, lose the court case against lefty court, escalates to Supreme Court, probably lose again. In the process you kill the military payments for the surgery. In the end the Activists win the case and trans are allowed while losing the thing that draws trans into the military in the first place. |
| Posted by: Rjschwarz 2018-03-26 06:56 |