The Supreme Court voted five to four in favor of a temporary ban of transgenders from the military on Jan. 22 as proposed by the Trump Administration, although appeal cases continue to move forward.

This ruling prohibits people who identify as a gender other than their biological sex from participating in military service for the United States. President Trump announced the policy on Twitter in July 2017, and it was modified in March 2018 by Jim Mattis, the defense secretary.

“I don’t think it’s right because people should be able to join the military based on their physical ability not their gender orientation,” Claudia Fernandez ’20 said. “If someone has equal ability it would be a disadvantage for America not to use them solely based off of their gender choices.”

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan ruled against the case, but were edged out by the five votes in favor of the temporary ban.

The court claims that the new policy will allow certain current working military personnel, transgender and on duty for American for more than 30 months, to continue serving and receiving medical care. There are three more cases and lawsuits going on surrounding this issue that will likely impact the final determination.

“A temporary ban is a good idea until the government understands the true impact on the defense budget monetarily,” Taha Banatwala ’21 said. “Then, they should be able to make a more informed and accepting decision.”