The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has announced it will no longer provide cross-sex hormone therapy for veterans struggling with gender dysphoria.
The decision, announced March 17, is in accordance with President Trump’s executive order “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” in which he stated, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.”
The policy change came one day before U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes ruled to block another Trump order which bans transgender people from the military by next month. That order stated that gender dysphoria should disqualify people from military service.
Reyes declared in her March 18 ruling that “transgender persons are a quasi-suspect group,” meaning that they are a politically powerless group entitled to heightened scrutiny to evaluate whether they can receive equal protection. Under the Biden Administration, however, the VA advanced gender-affirming policies on staff members, including training parking attendants and housekeepers to ask for veterans’ preferred pronouns.
In addition, the VA under Biden found ways to accommodate transgender veterans by working around the 1999 code of federal regulations, which prohibits them from offering gender-affirming surgeries in their medical services package. The department instead provided pre-surgery evaluation and post-surgery care for veterans, and they sent out letters of support for veterans to undergo so-called sex-change surgeries through non-VA providers.
Until last week, the VA offered a variety of treatments for veterans struggling with gender dysphoria, including cross-sex hormones, voice coaching and gender-affirming prosthetics, which were protected under Veterans Health Administration Directive 1341(4). The VA rescinded the policy a few days prior to announcing that they would no longer provide hormone therapy.
VA Secretary Doug Collins said, “I mean no disrespect to anyone, but VA should not be focused on helping Veterans attempt to change their sex.”
Though cross-sex hormone therapy will no longer be provided, veterans already receiving care from the VA or from the military will continue their treatment.
Transgender veterans make up a tiny portion of those treated by the VA. The Veterans Health Administration estimates that “less than one tenth of one percent of the 9.1 million veterans enrolled in VA health care are trans-identified.” The change in policy impacts those making up the 0.1% of veterans, not including those identifying as “lesbian, gay, bisexual or queer.”
Under the Trump administration, the VA is making changes that will not only adhere to Trump’s order to only recognize two sexes but also prioritizing military strength and revitalization. Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said in a post on “X,” “Judicial activism. Our nation’s military is not a laboratory for social experimentation. Troop restrictions—of all kinds—are necessary to maximize lethality and readiness.”
Going forward, all veterans will be required to use bathrooms and locker rooms in compliance with their birth sex or otherwise use single-person bathrooms. Further, all money originally saved for the treatments will be redirected toward treating paralyzed veterans and amputees.“All eligible Veterans—including trans-identified Veterans—will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law,” Collins said. “But if Veterans want to attempt to change their sex, they can do so on their own dime.”
Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/Sipa USA/Newscom