US releases guidance on transgender military ban, seeks to lift court order

(Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Defense on Friday released new guidance on how it will enforce President Donald Trump's ban on transgender people in the military, and asked a federal judge to lift her recent order blocking the ban.

The memorandum from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense says the Department of Defense will review service members' medical records, and within 45 days give them self-assessment questionnaires, to determine whether they have a current diagnosis, history, or symptoms of gender dysphoria, which would make them ineligible for continued service. 

Gender dysphoria is the distress experienced when a person's gender identity does not align with his or her birth sex.

The White House, Department of Defense and lawyers for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The memo states that the exclusion of people with symptoms of gender dysphoria applies only to those with "marked incongruence and clinically significant distress or impairment for at least six months," citing the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

It also states that it cannot currently take effect because of Wednesday's order by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington blocking the Trump administration's ban in response to a lawsuit by transgender current and would-be service members.

Justice Department lawyers in a motion on Friday asked Reyes to lift her order in light of the new guidance. They argued that Reyes' order incorrectly found that the policy discriminated against people based on their transgender identity, and that the guidance makes clear that it is based on a medical diagnosis.

Reyes already rejected a similar argument when she blocked the policy.

She had put her order on hold until 10:00 a.m. (1400 GMT) on Friday to give the government a chance to appeal. In Friday's motion, the government said they plan to appeal and asked Reyes to keep her order on hold while the appeal is pending if she did not lift it.

(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill Berkrot)