WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal court in Washington is barring President Donald Trump from changing the government's policy on military service by transgender people. 
 
 Trump announced in an August memo that he intended to reverse course on a 2016 policy that allowed troops to serve openly as transgender individuals. He said he would order a return to the policy prior to June 2016, under which service members could be discharged for being transgender. 
 
 U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote Monday that transgender members of the military who had sued over the change were likely to win their lawsuit and barred the Trump administration from reversing course. ||||| SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email 
 
 Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg 
 
 A U.S. judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s promised ban on transgender Americans serving in the armed forces, ruling that an earlier policy of inclusion must remain in effect. 
 
 The ban, due to be implemented in March 2018, is a form is discrimination based on gender and is already causing harm to personnel, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington said in a ruling Monday. 
 
 "There is absolutely no support for the claim that the ongoing service of transgender people would have any negative effect on the military at all," the judge wrote. "In fact, there is considerable evidence that it is the discharge and banning of such individuals that would have such effects." 
 
 Citing threats to troop readiness and morale, as well as costs associated with transgender medical services, Trump in July said in a series of tweets that he would reverse former President Barack Obama’s policy allowing transgender soldiers to serve. The suit by the National Center for Lesbian Rights claims the plan violates the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution. 
 
 The injunction means Trump’s policy cannot be implemented while the case is litigated. No trial date has been set. In her ruling, Kollar-Kotelly said she was required to apply a greater degree of scrutiny to the government’s plan because it impacts a class of Americans that has lacked political power. 
 
 "As a class, transgender individuals have suffered, and continue to suffer, severe persecution and discrimination," the judge wrote. "Despite this discrimination, the court is aware of no argument or evidence suggesting that being transgender in any way limits one’s ability to contribute to society." 
 
 How To Understand the Debate Over Transgender Rights: QuickTake 
 
 Department of Justice spokesman Devin O’Malley declined to comment. 
 
 More than a dozen states filed a joint brief earlier this month in support of the plaintiffs, accusing the Trump administration of peddling discredited myths to justify an “irrational" return to military discrimination. Eighteen foreign nations that already accept transgender troops, including Canada, Britain and Israel, report none of the problems cited by the president, the states say. 
 
 “Today’s decision is a victory for the transgender Americans who have put their lives on the line to serve their country," Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement. 
 
 Three anonymous "Jane Doe" plaintiffs in the case serve in the U.S. Army, including Doe 3, who has already served in Afghanistan and “expects to be deployed to Iraq soon,” according to their complaint. Another plaintiff is a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran, who has served two tours of duty in Iraq. 
 
 The proposal is among several moves by the administration targeting rights gained in recent years by transgender Americans, including reversing guidance by Obama directing public schools to allow students to use the bathrooms for the gender they identify with. 
 
 The case is Doe v. Trump, 17-cv-01597, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
– A federal court in Washington is barring President Trump from changing the government's policy on military service by transgender people, the AP reports. Trump announced in an August memo that he intended to reverse course on a 2016 policy that allowed troops to serve openly as transgender individuals. He said he would order a return to the policy prior to June 2016, under which service members could be discharged for being transgender. US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote Monday that transgender members of the military who had sued over the change were likely to win their lawsuit and barred the Trump administration from reversing course. "There is absolutely no support for the claim that the ongoing service of transgender people would have any negative effect on the military at all," Kollar-Kotelly wrote, per Bloomberg. "In fact, there is considerable evidence that it is the discharge and banning of such individuals that would have such effects." Per Reuters, however, Kollar-Kotelly did rebuff the plaintiffs' complaint against Trump's directive that government funds can't be used for sex-reassignment surgery for most active-duty service members. She noted in her ruling that the plaintiffs hadn't proved they'd be negatively affected by that restriction.