The move is just the first step in what's likely to be a years-long federal rulemaking process to expand VA health benefits to cover the surgery, but McDonough said the VA will use the time to 'develop capacity to meet the surgical needs' of transgender veterans.
The decision, he said, will allow 'transgender vets to go through the full gender confirmation process with VA by their side.' McDonough also referenced what he said were higher rates of mental illness and suicidal thoughts among LGBTQ veterans, and a fear of discrimination that prevents those veterans from seeking care.
In July 2016 the U.S. formally opened up the military to transgender individuals. In 2017, Trump reversed Obama’s policy. He claimed it was a waste of resources and would affect combat readiness, despite multiple retired top officials blasting the ban as cruel political point-scoring.
Just days into his term, President Joe Biden signed an executive order overturning a Trump administration ban on transgender individuals serving in the military.
Gina Duncan, director of transgender equality for the statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization Equality Florida, told the Orlando Sentinel that her agency was ‘thrilled to have allies at the highest level of government.’
She pointed out that the Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, has recently banned transgender girls from taking part in women’s sport.
‘In a moment of fierce state and local backlash against the transgender community, this move by the Biden administration is a reminder that elections matter,’ Duncan said.
‘Support for transgender veterans and the lifesaving health care they need to live authentically is a critical component to fulfilling our nation’s promise of caring for those who’ve served.’
Why stop at 4,000, why not 4 million, and through in an SUV and sick pay, bonus¡ Reward this and you will get MORE... More.. FREE....
I need to stop asking if this nation can get any more insane.
Wonder when the demorat Congress will take up that bill, to force the insurance companies to cover addadictomies and chopadickoffames. It's the new civil rights frontier, after all.
I am wondering, if military will be filled by persons who want transgender surgery.
Who knows, maybe transgender surgery will become one of the largest portion of US military spending?!
“Biden’s Veterans Affairs secretary tells Pride event the government will pay...”
No you a-hole, TAXPAYERS are being FORCED to pay.
Veterans who weren’t prisoners of war or don’t suffer from a service-related disability are unable to obtain dental care from the VA. You’re an unemployed vet with an impacted tooth or abscess and you go to the VA fo help, you’re shown the door because it’s too expensive.
And yet, they’ve got the money to mutilate men & women who are suffering from psychosis.
government will pay for free gender reassignment surgery
How do you pay for something that is “free”?
The enemy won’t have to fire a shot.
They will die laughing at us.
This is unreal.
You get what you pay for.
WE will pay for “free” gender reassignment surgery.
The holy grail of the left is to force us to pay for abortion, euthanasia, and dick-chopping surgery. They’ve accomplished it. Their next move will be to take more of our money.
Yeah! More free $h:+.
I have a cousin with knees ruined in Iraq.
How about replacing those instead?
Plenty of people would like plastic surgery so they are more comfortable with how they look.
But only a special class is eligible for such elective surgery.
The government isn’t paying for this nonsense, the taxpayers are being robbed to pay for it.
So they have the money to mutilate 4,000 mentally ill vets but no money to compensate agent orange victims.
This pisses me off. I had a brother in law pass a few weeks, he was a Marine during the Vietnam era that cleaned AO aircraft. He knows this because that’s the substance he was told by his superiors he was cleaning. He was never in Vietnam thus never qualified to get any compensation while alive and the medical treatment he got while alive sucked pathetically. His last two months of life no one, including his close family, could visit him due to silly covid crap restrictions. He never had covid. He had bladder cancer.
The number of uses I have for the VA range from zero to none at all.
and just where is ‘the government’ going to get the multi millions of dollars that these operations are going to cost
???
And gee, we cant find 4,000 veterans but since the money is already here we cant deny other homosexuals just because they arent veterans...
You get a vag!
And you get a vag!
And you get a vag!
Sound off!
hup, two, tray, fahr
hup, two, tray, fahr