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WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William Boykin, Family Research Council's Executive Vice President, released the following statement in response to a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decision vacating a temporary injunction against the Trump administration's transgender military policy:

"This is a victory for our servicemembers who are tasked with defending America because it allows our military leaders to focus their mission on fighting and winning wars rather than social engineering. The Constitution very clearly delegates to the commander-in-chief the job of running the military -- not the courts.

"The appeals court ruling helps pave the way for President Trump to continue moving the military away from Obama era political correctness which left our nation's defenses at its lowest levels of readiness since before WWII. There is no basis for the courts to take up President Obama's mission to divert taxpayer dollars from mission-critical training to funding for controversial gender reassignment surgeries for service members.

"We trust that other appeals courts reviewing this policy, and the Supreme Court, will agree and leave the responsibility for keeping our military strong and country safe where it belongs -- with our commander-in-chief," concluded Boykin.

New Smithsonian survey finds 61 percent of U.S. servicemembers oppose opening military to individuals who identify as transgender: www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/new-poll-us-troops-veterans-reveals-thoughts-current-military-policies-180971134/