The Pentagon announced March 12 that a directive has been signed to implement President Trump's policy barring most transgender people from serving in the military, The Hill reported.
The policy dictates that transgender people who join after it takes effect (April 12) will have to serve in the gender they were assigned at birth.
The directive is being issued after a federal judge in Maryland recently lifted the last of the orders preventing the transgender military policy from taking effect, saying he had no choice after the Supreme Court ruled in February (by a vote of five to four) to lift two other holds.
The American Military Partner Association (AMPA), OutServe-SLDN and SPARTAthe nation's three key advocacy and support organizations for our LGBTQ military, veteran and military family communitiesissued a joint statement condemning the Pentagon's move. Among other things, American Military Partner Association (AMPA) President Ashley Broadway-Mack said, "This horrific policy is even more cruel than 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' because the Pentagon explicitly told these service members it was finally safe to come outand now they are being targeted for discrimination."
The organizations added that all four service chiefs and 41 retired generals and admirals have emphatically denounced the claims the Trump administration is using to justify the ban.
In a separate statement, Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur said, "It is as absurd and offensive as it is unlawful that the Trump-Pence Administration now intends to violate both the U.S. Constitution and a federal court order just to purge thousands of brave and honorable service members from our armed forces. In a dangerous world, the president is once again putting politics ahead of national security and military readiness. The 15,000 transgender Americans risking their lives for our country deserve better. Our nation deserves better."
The Hill item is at thehill.com/policy/defense/433788-pentagon-signs-directive-to-implement-transgender-military-ban.