A federal appeals court has denied the Trump administration’s request to further delay enlistment of new transgender service members in the armed forces. The ruling comes in the American Civil Liberties Union’s case, Stone v. Trump.

The trial court prohibited the government from implementing President Trump’s unconstitutional ban on transgender people serving in the military on November 21. Two other federal district courts have entered similar injunctions, and the government has filed motions to stay those injunctions before three federal courts of appeals. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is the first court of appeals to rule on the stay requests.

Josh Block, senior staff attorney with the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project, had this reaction:

“We are happy that the court saw through the government’s smokescreen and rejected its request to further delay the policy allowing transgender people to enlist. The military has already developed comprehensive guidance to prepare for a January 1 start date, and the government failed to offer any credible reason why transgender people should be barred from enlisting if they can meet the same rigorous standards that apply to everyone else.”

The order can be viewed in full here:
https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/stone-v-trump-order-denying-stay