The Trump administration’s long-wished-for transgender military ban now is officially – and legally – cleared to proceed. Different variations of the ban have been floating in legal limbo for several months. The language has shifted, but its core idea has remained the same: Transgender troops are not welcome to risk their lives defending the U.S. The ban, which will force individuals to serve in their birth gender and bar transgender personnel from transitioning to their self-identified gender, can go in effect April 12. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved the last remaining legal hurdle against it Tuesday evening. Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist signed a memo on March 12 approving the administration’s long-wished-for ban, which signaled the near completion of the saga. Norquist’s surprising announcement came even as lower courts still debated over the legality of the policy.