MILITARY FAMILIES IN LIMBO AS U.S. SENATE CONSIDERS NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT WITH ANTI-TRANSGENDER PROVISION

20+ Senators introduce amendment removing harmful language that could impact 7,000 families’ access to lifesaving health care

(New York, NY – December 17, 2024) – GLAAD, the world’s leading LGBTQ media advocacy organization, elevated transgender and military voices today in response to the pending National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a federal bill pending in Congress that contains a dangerous and discriminatory provision targeting the dependents of military service members and retirees and their essential health care.

The provision would effectively ban nearly all forms of gender-affirming care through TRICARE, health care that is supported by every major medical association as safe, studied, and lifesaving (statements here). TRICARE is the uniformed services healthcare program for active duty service members, active duty family members, National Guard and Reserve members and their family members, retirees and retiree family members, survivors, and certain former spouses worldwide.

The bill passed in the U.S. House last week and the Senate is expected to vote this week. Last night, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and 20 other U.S. Senators introduced an amendment to remove the dangerous language.

“Let’s be clear: we’re talking about parents who are in uniform serving our country who have earned the right to make the best decisions for their families,” said Senator Baldwin in introducing the amendment. “I trust our servicemembers and their doctors to make the best healthcare decisions for their kids, not politicians. Our amendment would protect military families’ right to make their own decisions and access sometimes lifesaving care for their children.”

Sen. Baldwin’s press release points out that keeping the provision in would cause harm to approximately 6,000-7,000 families raising transgender youth, many of whom are speaking out only on the condition of anonymity out of fear for their and their families’ safety.

“It is very hard for me to reconcile the idea that the country trusted me to fight in combat, to be shot at, to lead young sailors into combat, but they won’t trust me to make a medical decision for my child, which is the most important decision of my life,” said one retired Navy captain who is raising a transgender teenage son to the Washington Post. The Navy captain spent 29 years in the service and was a commanding officer of an aviation squadron.

“My spouse is active duty military,” said B., the spouse of an active duty airman and the parent of a trans child. “If these lawmakers saw him in the hallway in Congress, they would shake his hand and thank him for his service. They trust him with sensitive information, and they trust him with the security of the nation, but somehow they can’t trust him with making informed medical decisions for his own child?”

Another family impacted by the proposed language is Jane Doe and her 11-year-old daughter, Susan, who are also plaintiffs in a case challenging Florida’s ban on transgender health care led by GLAD Law. The Does are a military family who moved to Florida when John Doe was stationed there as a Senior Officer in the U.S. Navy. “The military doctors we work with understand the importance of providing that evidence-based, individualized care. We’re proud to serve our country, but we are being treated differently than other military families because of a decision by politicians in the state where we are stationed,” said Jane Doe.

If passed, the language inserted into the NDAA would be the first time in American history that a ban on health care for transgender Americans would become part of federal statute. It would be the first broadly anti-LGBTQ federal statute since policies such as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which prohibited open service by gay, lesbian, and bisexual members of the military and was repealed more than ten years ago; and the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,” banning marriages for same-sex couples from being recognized by the federal government. DOMA was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013. It was replaced with the Respect for Marriage Act, codified into law by Congress in 2022 and ensuring.full federal respect for same-sex and interracial marriages, including in hospitals across state lines, in tax and estate considerations, and in regards to all the federal protections of marriage.

GLAAD’s President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis (she/her) issued the following statement:

“Our national security is being hijacked by the extremist fringe few who want to score political points at the expense of military families. Service members put their lives on the line every single day to protect our freedom and our families – the very least elected officials can do is ensure that the service members’ families are protected too and that they have the freedom to make health care decisions best for their families. This health care is mainstream care supported by every major medical association. Politicians playing games with our military are putting every family at risk. Congress must reject this nonsensical provision and pass a clean defense bill that prioritizes national security and puts our military first.”

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti earlier this month, a case challenging Tennessee’s law banning health care such as hormone therapy and puberty-pausing medications for transgender youth under 18, while the same treatments remain available to cisgender (non-transgender) youth.