Republicans Hold Defense Funds Hostage With Military Trans Care Funding Ban

Republicans have inserted a ban on funding going to any form of gender affirming care for all ages for transgender military members and their family members.

In a move reminiscent of the Trump administration policy era, the Republican-controlled Congressional Appropriations Committee recently unveiled the fiscal year 2024 Defense Appropriations Bill that includes a provision denying transgender healthcare for military personnel. The bill is embedded with a myriad of prohibitions, spanning from bans on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion to bans on drag in military recruiting and on bases.

Crucially, a succinct three-line clause stipulates that none of the allocated funds can be utilized for hormone therapy or surgery for transgender military members, effectively cutting off their access to care, as all military members must seek healthcare through the military healthcare system unless otherwise authorized. Even if they can obtain authorization, for those stationed in states like Florida or internationally where healthcare for adults is heavily regulated or banned, their access to necessary care would disappear.

This marks the first instance of Republicans incorporating anti-trans provisions into must-pass national funding legislation - an alarming indication of what appears to be an emerging GOP focus on advancing anti-trans measures at the national level.

You can see the provision banning gender affirming care coverage for military members here:

Ban on gender affirming care coverage in the military.

The bill is one of several bills targeting military servicemembers and veterans being proposed by the Republican party in recent months. Months ago, Senator Marco Rubio proposed a bill that would ban transgender servicemembers from the military, identical to Donald Trump’s policies in 2018. Likewise, under an amendment that was passed by Republicans from the same committee on Tuesday, Veterans Affairs would no longer be able to provide abortions or gender affirming care at their facilities, nor would they be able to put up Pride flags.

These bills are particularly salient to transgender people, who are twice as likely to serve in the military as cisgender people. According to the 2015 US Transgender Survey, one in five transgender people have reported serving in the military. Issues that target transgender people in the military and transgender veterans are especially harmful due to the large impact they have on the community.

The defense appropriations bill is a must-pass piece of legislation, and while many activists I have spoken to do not believe that Republicans will hold it hostage over transgender inclusion, recent events in state legislatures give room for doubt. In Nebraska, for instance, Republicans were willing to go 81 days without passing any legislation in order to get an anti-trans bill through. In Oregon, Republican legislators walked out en masse over a gender affirming care and abortion protection bill and will likely not be able to run for reelection due to a constitutional amendment against legislative walkouts. They have been willing to use brinkmanship to push anti-trans bills through.

The provision in the bill faces significant challenges, requiring full House approval and survival in the Senate where Democrats hold a substantial majority. It then must also survive a potential veto from President Biden. There has been consistent opposition from state-level Democrats to any legislation infringing on transgender rights, even in deeply conservative states like Indiana, Iowa, and South Dakota, where Democrats remained unified against all anti-trans bills. As more national legislation targets transgender individuals, national Democrats are set to face similar tests of their commitment to transgender rights in bills such as these. Meanwhile, transgender servicemembers are left in the crossfire, their necessary healthcare held hostage to political maneuvering.