Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday that New Jersey will join five other states in working in opposition on the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people in the United States military.
Murphy says that the state will exercise “every available option to allow transgender individuals to continue to serve in the National Guard.”
"As I have stated before, President Trump's policy targeting transgender individuals who wish to serve in our military is abhorrent and un-American," Murphy said in a statement.
The governor says that New Jersey has joined a multi-state coalition that includes California, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state, to encourage the courts to declare the president’s ban unconstitutional.
“We will continue to fight this bigoted policy and defend the rights of all New Jersey residents,” Murphy said.
The ban went into effect last month.