Trump ban on transgender troops in US military could be reversed by new congress bill

Supreme Court issued injunctions allowing military restriction to begin as legal battle continues

Transgender rights advocates have hailed the bipartisan bill as a step towards ensuring the equal treatment of transgender service members (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

A bipartisan group of US politicians has introduced legislation that would allow transgender people to serve openly in the military, after the Supreme Court moved to allow Donald Trump's ban to go into effect last month.

The legislation was introduced by senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Susan Collins, and Jack Reed in the Senate and representatives Jackie Speier, Joseph Kennedy, John Katko, Susan Davis and Anthony Brown in Congress.

It would prohibit the Department of Defence from denying the enlistment or continued service of transgender people solely on the basis of their gender identity.

Transgender rights advocates hailed the legislation as a step towards ensuring the equal treatment of transgender service members.

"The bills introduced today affirm that anyone who meets military standards should be able to serve their country," said Jennifer Levi, the director of the GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders' Transgender Rights Project, in a statement.

"We appreciate that leaders in congress are stepping in to protect our troops and work for a solution at the same time our legal fight for the rights of transgender service members continues.”

In July 2017, Mr Trump announced in a tweet that he would ban transgender people from serving in the military, a move that reversed an Obama administration rule allowing transgender troops to serve openly.

Several lower courts have blocked the Trump administration's policy.

But last month, the Supreme Court allowed Mr Trump's restrictions to go into effect, even as the legal battle continues to make its way through the courts.

The Washington Post