U.S. judge denies Trump's bid to delay transgender military recruits

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. federal judge on Monday ruled that the White House must accept transgender military recruits by Jan. 1, 2018.

"The court will not stay its preliminary injunction pending defendants'appeal," Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia announced Monday.

"In sum, having carefully considered all of the evidence before it, the court is not persuaded that defendants will be irreparably injured by allowing the accession of transgender individuals into the military beginning on January 1, 2018." the judge wrote.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the ban on transgender military enlistment on Twitter in July. In response, two U.S. civil rights groups, on behalf of six unnamed service members and two recruits, filed a lawsuit against the ban in the D.C. federal court.

In October, Kollar-Kotelly issued an injunction blocking the ban from taking effect. Since then, the Trump administration has sought to implement a ban on enlisting new transgender troops. Enditem