Colorado will defy the Trump administration's ban on transgender troops serving in Colorado National Guard units, joining five other states that are refusing to comply with the new Pentagon policy, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jared Polis told Colorado Politics.
"The governor believes that excluding perfectly capable service members simply because of their gender identity makes us weaker. He has no intention of enforcing such an archaic rule," said Shelby Wieman, Polis' deputy press secretary.
The military began implementing a ban on most transgender service members last month following an April 12 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that paves the way to enforce an order President Donald Trump issued nearly two years earlier in a series of tweets.
Officials in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state have said their states' National Guard units won't comply with the ban, which prohibits service by troops and cadets who have undergone transition therapy or are seeking gender reassignment.
National Guard units are generally under the control of governors, not the federal government.
Read more at Colorado Politics.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS | Next with Kyle Clark
