VA MOVES TO REVERSE 2013 BAN
The Department of Veterans Affairs is moving to provide gender-confirmation surgery through its health-care coverage, reversing a 2013 ban, VA Secretary Denis McDonough announced Saturday.
McDonough pledged to overcome a “dark history” of discrimination and take steps to expand access to care for transgender veterans at a Pride Month event in Orlando, Fla., which this month marked the fifth anniversary of a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub, that left 49 people dead. The VA plans to begin the two-year process this summer, a VA spokesman confirmed.
The change marks a significant departure from VA under President Donald Trump, who limited transgender people from serving in the military, a prohibition reversed by President Biden soon after he took office. In 2013, while Biden was vice president, a department directive said VA “does not provide sex reassignment surgery,” effectively preventing transgender veterans from a surgery considered medically necessary by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
The federal rulemaking process, expected to begin this summer, will include a period for public comment, spokesman Terrence Hayes told The Washington Post on Saturday.
Although the cost to VA is unknown, it’s estimated that fewer than 4,000 veterans would be interested in this surgery, Hayes wrote in an email. The National Center for Transgender Equality estimates that there are about 134,000 transgender veterans.
Some people treat gender dysphoria, a feeling that the body a person is born into does not conform to one’s gender identity, with medical treatments or transition-related surgeries.
Suicidal thoughts and mental illness are experienced at a far higher rate for LGBTQ veterans than those outside the community, McDonough noted. In addition to psychological distress, they also may experience prejudice and stigma. About 80 percent of LGBTQ veterans have encountered a hurtful or rejecting experience in the military because of their gender identity, McDonough said.