Executive Summary: As previously reported by these authors, on July 26, 2017, President Trump announced via Twitter that transgender individuals will no longer be permitted to serve in the military. President Trump issued an official memorandum (“the memorandum”) on August 25, 2017, reasserting the ban and setting out a number of directives. In response, several transgender service members filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that the memorandum and the transgender military ban violate the guarantees of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. On October 30, 2017, United States District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued an injunction, finding that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims. This order established a status quo by which President Obama’s prior policy, announced on June 30, 2016, remains in effect and permits transgender individuals to serve in all divisions of the United States Armed Forces.
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