APA Calls for Protection of Transgender Rights After Supreme Court Allows Military Service Ban

APA has denounced a Supreme Court decision handed down earlier this week that gave a green light to the U.S. military to restrict service by individuals who are transgender.A sharply divided high court handed the Trump administration the victory for its policy banning transgender military service by a vote of 5-4, without discussing the merits of the case. In response, APA issued astatement calling for the protection of transgender individuals ’ civil rights and expressing great disappointment in the decision to lift the injunctions on the transgender service ban imposed by a lower courts.After President Donald Trump signed the ban last March to disqualify individuals who are transgender from military service except under certain limited circumstances, four federal courts issued preliminary injunctions to block it. The Supreme Court decision lifts the injunctions and allows the ban to take effect while the cases challenging the policy continue to wind their way through the courts.“We are extremely concerned that the military will discriminate against transgender Americans who want to serve their country while these lower court cases are being decided,” said APA President Altha Stewart, M.D., in a statement issued to the media. “Banning transgender service members from serving our country harms not just those transgender Americans who have dedicated themselves to service of others, but it unfairly casts a pall over all transgender Americans. And as psychiatrists, we kn...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Altha Stewart gender dysphoria military ban Obama Administration Saul Levin Supreme Court transgender Trump administration Source Type: research