Washington, Apr 24 (AP) The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to allow enforcement of a ban on transgender people in the military, while legal challenges proceed.

The high court filing follows a brief order from a federal appeals court that kept in place a court order blocking the policy nationwide.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order a week into his term that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honourable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life” and is harmful to military readiness.

In response, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service.

But in March, US District Court Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma, Washington, ruled for several long-serving transgender military members who say the ban is insulting and discriminatory, and that their firing would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations.

Trump’s Republican administration offered no explanation as to why transgender troops, who have been able to serve openly over the past four years with no evidence of problems, should suddenly be banned, Settle wrote. The judge is an appointee of President George W. Bush and a former captain in the US Army Judge Advocate General Corps. (AP) GSP