Headed by Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), over three dozen House Democrats introduced legislation titled the Armed Forces Transgender Dependent Protection Act to protect transgender or gender-nonconforming family members of military personnel. Panetta, who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus, introduced the legislation on the first day of Pride Month. The Armed Forces Transgender Dependent Protection Act would prevent military personnel with transgender or gender-nonconforming dependents from being stationed in states or countries where gender-affirming health care is limited or banned. Speaking on the bill, Panetta said that "Despite the progress that we have made in our fight for LGBTQ equality, service members and their transgender dependents continue to face hurdles that threaten their development.” Recently, states across the United States have passed or considered passing a number of legislation that would limit health care to transgender and gender-nonconforming people. For instance, in April Republican-controlled Arkansas became the first US state to prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming treatment for transgender people under age eighteen. That same month the American Civil Liberties Union published a report highlighting similar anti-transgender legislation, and according to this at least a dozen states are considering legislation similar to Arkansas’.
Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman and co-sponsor of the June 1 bill, stated “Across America, Republican-led states have embarked on the discriminatory mission of legislatively outlawing medical treatment for trans-Americans,” and followed by saying that making sure the dependents of “active duty service members can access medically necessary treatment is a question of dignity, fairness, and civil rights.”
The bill was endorsed by Blue Star Families, an organization that supports military families. The group’s CEO, Kathy Roth-Douquet, said that their research shows “that location matters, and some active-duty families might even choose to separate from the service rather than relocate to an area where they might be discriminated against… No family should be forced to choose between a sense of belonging and continued service to the nation." Other organizations that have endorsed the bill include the Human Rights Campaign, the Modern Military Association of America, and The Trevor Project.
Although a handful of states and Congressmembers have pushed for anti-transgender legislation, which ranges from limiting gender-affirming surgery to banning transgender girls from playing on girls’ teams, various attempts have been made to combat these attacks on transgender rights. On January 25, President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Auston repealed a Trump-era ban on most transgender people serving in the military, and Austin has made diversity and inclusion a priority since becoming Secretary of Defense in January.
Sources consulted
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