U.S. military to accept transgender recruits on Monday: Pentagon
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Transgender people will be allowed for the first time to enlist in the U.S. military starting on Monday as ordered by federal courts  the Pentagon said on Friday  after  President Donald Trump’s administration  decided not to appeal rulings that blocked  his  transgender ban.
Two federal appeals courts  one in Washington and one in Virginia  last week rejected  the administration’s  request to put on hold orders by lower court judges requiring the military to begin accepting transgender recruits on Jan. 1.
A Justice Department official said  the administration  will not challenge those rulings.
“The Department of Defense has announced that it will be releasing an independent study of these issues in the coming weeks. So rather than litigate this interim appeal before that occurs   the administration  has decided to wait for DOD’s study and will continue to defend the president’s lawful authority in District Court in the meantime ” the official said  speaking on condition of anonymity.
In September  the Pentagon said it had created a panel of senior officials to study how to implement a directive by  Trump  to prohibit transgender individuals from serving. The Defense Department has until Feb. 21 to submit a plan to  Trump .
FILE PHOTO: A rainbow flag flies as people protest  U.S. President Donald Trump 's announcement that  he  plans to reinstate a ban on transgender individuals from serving in any capacity in the U.S. military  in Times Square  in New York City  New York  U.S.  July 26  2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
In a move that appealed to his hard-line conservative supporters   Trump  announced in July that he would prohibit transgender people from serving in the military  reversing Democratic President Barack Obama’s policy of accepting them.  Trump  said on Twitter at the time that the military “cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.”
The  Trump  administration previously said in legal papers that the armed forces were not prepared to train thousands of personnel on the medical standards needed to process transgender applicants and might have to accept “some individuals who are not medically fit for service.”
The Obama administration had set a deadline of July 1  2017  to begin accepting transgender recruits. But  Trump ’s defense secretary  James Mattis  postponed that date to Jan. 1  2018  which the president’s ban then put off indefinitely.
 Trump  has taken other steps aimed at rolling back transgender rights. In October   his  administration said a federal law banning gender-based workplace discrimination does not protect transgender employees  reversing another Obama-era position. In February   Trump  rescinded guidance issued by the Obama administration saying that public schools should allow transgender students to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Transgender people will be allowed for the first time to enlist in the U.S. military starting on Monday as ordered by federal courts  the Pentagon said on Friday  after  [TGT]decided not to appeal rulings that blocked  [TGT]  transgender ban.
Two federal appeals courts  one in Washington and one in Virginia  last week rejected  the administration’s  request to put on hold orders by lower court judges requiring the military to begin accepting transgender recruits on Jan. 1.
A Justice Department official said  [TGT]will not challenge those rulings.
“The Department of Defense has announced that it will be releasing an independent study of these issues in the coming weeks. So rather than litigate this interim appeal before that occurs   [TGT]has decided to wait for DOD’s study and will continue to defend the president’s lawful authority in District Court in the meantime ” the official said  speaking on condition of anonymity.
In September  the Pentagon said it had created a panel of senior officials to study how to implement a directive by  Trump  to prohibit transgender individuals from serving. The Defense Department has until Feb. 21 to submit a plan to  Trump .
FILE PHOTO: A rainbow flag flies as people protest  U.S. President Donald Trump 's announcement that  he  plans to reinstate a ban on transgender individuals from serving in any capacity in the U.S. military  in Times Square  in New York City  New York  U.S.  July 26  2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
In a move that appealed to his hard-line conservative supporters   Trump  announced in July that he would prohibit transgender people from serving in the military  reversing Democratic President Barack Obama’s policy of accepting them.  Trump  said on Twitter at the time that the military “cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.”
The  Trump  administration previously said in legal papers that the armed forces were not prepared to train thousands of personnel on the medical standards needed to process transgender applicants and might have to accept “some individuals who are not medically fit for service.”
The Obama administration had set a deadline of July 1  2017  to begin accepting transgender recruits. But  Trump ’s defense secretary  James Mattis  postponed that date to Jan. 1  2018  which the president’s ban then put off indefinitely.
 Trump  has taken other steps aimed at rolling back transgender rights. In October   his  administration said a federal law banning gender-based workplace discrimination does not protect transgender employees  reversing another Obama-era position. In February   Trump  rescinded guidance issued by the Obama administration saying that public schools should allow transgender students to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity.