Trump Administration Blocked from Removing over 20 Transgender Troops

The Trump administration was blocked by a federal appeals court from banning almost 30 transgender-identifying individuals from being able to serve in the United States military.

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that 28 transgender individuals — who had filed a lawsuit when the Trump administration barred transgender individuals from serving in the military — are allowed to “continue serving while the case proceeds,” the New York Times reported.

While the court’s ruling “applies only to 28 plaintiffs,” the plaintiffs have called for the court “to extend the protection to all transgender troops,” according to the outlet.

“In the beginning days of his second term in office, President Trump issued an Executive Order proclaiming that persons ‘expressing a false “gender identity” divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service,’” Judge Robert L. Wilkins wrote in