WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday revived the Trump administration’s policy of barring most transgender people from serving in the military. In a brief, unsigned order, the justices temporarily allowed the ban to go into effect while cases challenging it move forward.
The vote was 5 to 4, with the court’s five conservative members in the majority and its four liberal members in dissent.
The administration had also asked the justices to hear immediate appeals from trial court rulings blocking the policy. The court turned down those requests without comment.
The policy, announced on Twitter by President Trump and refined by the defense secretary at the time, Jim Mattis, generally prohibits people identifying with a gender different from their biological sex from military service. It makes exceptions for several hundred transgender people already serving openly and for those willing to serve “in their biological sex.”…