A federal judge in Washington ruled Monday that while Barack Obama's administration was allowed to change U.S. military rules based on his political agenda, President Trump cannot reverse the changes.
The temporary block on Trump's plan to reverse Obama's order that transgendered individuals be allowed to serve in the military was issued by Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in a case brought by transgenders.
The plaintiffs asserted Trump's plan, which is under review before being implemented, violates their rights to due process and equal protection under the law under the U.S. Constitution. Kollar-Kotelly said the claim, filed in August, was likely to succeed, asserting the ban was unconstitutional because the administration’s reasons for it "do not appear to be supported by any facts."
A leading pro-family organization said the ruling indicates the judge thinks she is better able to run the military than the president.
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"This is where judicial activism is leading us. The courts have moved beyond legislating on the invented rights of abortion and same-sex marriage to clearly usurping the constitutional authority of the executive branch," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and a Marine veteran.
"The president has the primary task of protecting Americans, but we see the courts weakening his immigration policies designed to protect America from threats and now telling the commander-in-chief how to run the military," Perkins said.
Trump announced in July his plan to restore the old policy forbidding transexuals from serving. The Obama administration, which initiated the policy in July 2016, also opened the door for the service of individuals who identify as homosexual.
Trump argued the higher priority is the ability of the ranks to perform their military responsibilities.
Kollar-Kotelly said in her opinion "the court finds that a number of factors – including the sheer breadth of the exclusion ordered by the directives, the unusual circumstances surrounding the president's announcement of them, the fact that the reasons given for them do not appear to be supported by any facts, and the recent rejection of those reasons by the military itself – strongly suggest that plaintiffs' Fifth Amendment claim is meritorious."
It was the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the GLBTQ Legal Advocates that sued to enforce Obama's social agenda.
When he announced the changed in July, Trump said the United States government "will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military."
In August, he signed a memo prohibiting the military from enlisting transgender people or using funds to pay for gender-transition-related surgery.
The memo reversed Obama's Defense Department announcement in July 2016 of new special recognition for transgenders in the military.
The judge claimed, "There is absolutely no support for the claim that the ongoing service of transgender people would have any negative effective (sic) on the military at all."
She cited studies and assessments that were generated to support Obama's effort to rebut concerns over costs, unit cohesion and deployability.
The judge also pointed out the dangers of imposing social agendas on government institutions, arguing they cannot so easily be reversed. She cited a number of homosexual-rights opinions to support her contention.
And she lectured the president on how to go about changing a previous president's orders.
"The court by no means suggests that it was not within the president's authority to order that additional studies be undertaken and that this policy be reevaluated. If the president had done so and then decided that banning all transgender individuals from serving in the military was beneficial to the various military objectives cited, this would be a different case."
WND reported last month an expert on military readiness scolded two senators who wanted to continue Obama's promotion of gender dysphoria in the ranks, contending it hurts the nation's military readiness.
Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, an independent public policy group that analyzes social issues in the military, was responding to a move by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, to try to force the military to keep and even recruit persons suffering from the condition.
"Gender dysphoria is one of several psychological conditions, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia, chronic air- or sea-sickness, or claustrophobia, which affect personal readiness to deploy," Donnelly explained.
She said transgenders "can serve our country in many ways, but prolonged absences associated with expensive, gender-denying 'transition plans,' hormone therapies, and surgeries make them one of many groups that do not meet military qualification requirements."
Donnelly said it's "regrettable that two senators who have consistently demanded social experiments in the military, while disavowing negative consequences of their own misguided policy demands, would try to cut off at the knees both Secretary of Defense James Mattis and President Donald Trump on an important national defense issue: transgenders in the military."
"Senator Gillibrand keeps raising alarms about increased sexual assaults in the military, which are of concern to everyone. But she cares nothing about military women living in close-quarters who are being forced to accept biological males in female-designated showers and private facilities. Nor do the senators care about doctors and nurses being forced to approve or participate in treatments that many consider contrary to medical ethics or personal convictions."
She said taking a "ready, fire, aim" and "don't confuse us with the facts" approach, Collins and Gillibrand demanded that Secretary Mattis "produce a report that fits their expectations, even before confirmation of the official nominated to head the Pentagon office designated to handle the issue."
"The senators' amendment implies that the military is nothing more than an equal opportunity (EO) employer. On the contrary, there is no constitutional right to serve in the military. The armed forces exist to defend the country, and being 'qualified' for military service involves more than personal desire or physical strength," she said.
"It seems that the senators want to rely on Obama holdovers and misinformation produced in consultation with LGBT activist groups, including the often-quoted 2016 RAND Report. CMR has prepared a two-page CMR Summary citing several reasons why this pre-determined polemic (not a 'study') cannot be considered a credible source for understanding negative effects of Obama-era policies," Donnelly said.
She explained that, according to leading experts, human "sex change" is biologically impossible. Gender is identified at birth, not assigned, and every person's gender-determining DNA chromosomes exist in every cell of his or her body.
Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., tweeted at the time, "Trump makes our military weaker by arbitrarily kicking out high-performing soldiers based solely on gender identity."
But Polis didn't address the financial issues raised by Donnelly, including absences, transition plans, hormone therapies and surgeries. Nor did he address the implications of a biological male who "identifies" as a woman sharing showers with biological females.
The country’s most notorious transgender ex-soldier weighed in as well. Chelsea Manning, who was sentenced to prison after leaking thousands of top-secret government documents to WikiLeaks, tweeted that Trump's move "sounds like cowardice."
But Dr. James Dobson, the celebrated psychologist, Christian leader, author and radio host, released a statement commending Trump for reversing the damage Obama had done to the military.
"For eight years, the Department of Defense under President Obama went about the systematic and intentional transformation of the U.S. military, unnecessarily disrupting the world's most elite fighting force from their most pressing and urgent requirement – keeping our country and its allies safe," Dobson stated.
"It is heartening to have a commander-in-chief who puts the expert opinions of his generals and military officials ahead of the destructive forces of political correctness and identity politics. I support the president’s decision and commend this administration for having the courage to protect our military from what would only amount to an enormous and costly distraction."
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