Over the last few years the fate of Transgender service members in the us has been unclear. On July 26, 2017 President Trump attempted to ban Trans people from the U.S. Military via Twitter, but this ban did not stand.

On Tuesday, January 22 the Supreme Court opened the door for the ban to go into effect in a 5-4 decision.

The goal of the original proposal was to reverse the policy created by President Obama allowing trans men and women to openly serve in the military.

This policy blocks people who have been diagnosed with gender-dysphoria from serving; those who have not been diagnosed and don’t have a recorded history may still serve under the sex assigned to them at birth.

“Being transgender isn’t a choice they make,” said senior Hailee Melow. “What does this have to do with them serving in the military? Their capability[to work] doesn’t change because of what gender they identify with, this is discrimination they’re singling out a specific group and saying they can’t serve.”

The ban remains unestablished to a lingering interjection that Maryland federal judge George Russell has yet to remove. The SCOTUS decision remains unsigned and does not deal with the legality of the ban. Russell has been encouraged to lift the interjection so that the policy may go through.

Following the SCOTUS decision the Department of Defense said it was “critical” that it be “permitted to make personnel policies that it determines are necessary to ensure the most lethal and combat effective fighting force in the world.”

The fate of the policy remains unknown at the moment, this decision could ultimately result in the largest layoff in American history, and the consequences should be taken into deep consideration.