US President Donald Trump says his policy of banning certain transgender people from the military has been allowed by the supreme court of the country,
The court voted five-four to grant a Trump administration request to lift injunctions blocking the policy while challenges continue in lower courts.
The four liberal judges on the court opposed the ruling. The policy prohibits transgender persons who require or have undergone gender transition from serving.
President Trump has announced on Twitter in 2017 that the country would no longer accept or allow transgender Americans to serve in the military, citing tremendous medical costs and disruption.
Former defence Secretary General Jim Mattis defined the policy to limit it to transgender individuals with a history of gender dysphoria, or when a person’s biological sex and identity does not match.
He said the new policy would make exceptions for several hundred transgender people already serving openly or willing to serve in their biological sex.
Findings revealed that there are currently some eight thousand, nine hundred and eighty active duty transgender troops,
General Mattis in his memo, argued that “by its very nature, military service requires sacrifice, and that those who serve voluntarily accept limitations on their personal liberties.
The move is a reversal of an Obama administration policy that ruled transgender Americans could serve openly in the military as well as obtain funding for gender re-assignment surgery.
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