(AP) On Thursday, a group of transgender veterans sued the Department of Veteran Affairs in an effort to compel it to start offering and funding gender-affirming surgeries.
Rebekka Eshler, president of the Transgender American Veterans Association, stated that the lawsuit aims to force the VA to include in its regulations linguistic assurances that it will start offering those services.
She claimed that the procedures are necessary to reduce the risk of suicide, depression, and emotional distress in trans people with gender dysphoria.
The trans veterans association stated in its petition, which it claimed was filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, that doing so would also mean that those veterans do not have to obtain this care through private doctors, which is often prohibitively expensive.
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ director stated that it does not comment on ongoing legal disputes. However, he referred to statements made in 2021 by Veteran Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, who said that the VA was beginning a year-long rulemaking process that could lead to the provision of gender-affirming surgeries. McDonough indicated that the VA would use the time to “develop capacity to meet the medical needs” of transgender veterans.
According to him, the decision would allow “transgender veterans to go through the full gender confirmation process with the VA by their side.”
In May 2016, the veterans initially petitioned for the rule change. The VA has since held hearings and developed several proposed rules for cost-benefit analysis, the organization stated. However, despite the VA’s current provision of hormone therapy and other services to trans veterans in some areas, the group claimed that it has not rapidly changed its rules or offered any coverage for the surgeries.
Eshler commented, “I receive phone calls from veterans who are in such a crisis that they are calling us because they can’t take it any longer and they want to kill themselves.”
Natalie Kastner, a 39-year-old disabled veteran from Texas, said she visited the VA in 2022 to receive surgery. She claimed she took a blade and attempted self-castration when doctors denied her request. Doctors were able to save her life after she struck an artery and nearly died.
She said, “I did not enter that restroom intending to kill myself. I entered that restroom in an effort to fix myself. How many others have done the same but not been as fortunate and have only been listed as suicide? I can only imagine.”
Eshler expressed her hope that the lawsuit will even out the treatment provided to transgender veterans, who, according to her, can differ from state to state and even clinic to clinic.
In the lawsuit, the VA is required to respond within 30 days to the 2016 complaint.
Editor’s Note: The video above discusses gender-affirming care in Ohio.
