U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) – Photo: U.S. House of Representatives.
A Republican congresswoman is trying to prevent the military from using taxpayer dollars to pay for trans service members’ transition-related health care.
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), who wants to ban all transgender people from serving in the military, has filed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would prohibit the military from providing hormones or gender confirmation surgery, or insurance coverage for such treatments, reports The Washington Examiner.
U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) proposed an almost identical amendment, which would have barred the military from providing coverage for gender confirmation surgery or anything else thought to “promote the transgender agenda,” but it was withdrawn.
But Republican fears of transgender health care costs eating up the military budget may be unfounded. A 2015 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine estimated that providing hormone therapy or surgery for trans service members would cost about $5.6 million each year, or “little more than a rounding error in the military’s $47.8 billion health care budget,” according to study author Aaron Belkin.
Last month, Hartzler attempted to ban any transgender service members from serving openly. She later withdrew the proposed amendment, but raised concerns about privacy in restroom and shower facilities.
“Is it fair to recruit our sons and daughters to fight for our nation and, instead of being able to focus on the enemy, subjecting them to disturbing distractions of very personal privacy issues involving sleeping and showering with individuals born of the opposite sex?” Hartzler said during a debate in the House Armed Services Committee, on which she serves. “It is not. Military service is a privilege, not a right.”
Under the current policy, which lifted a widespread ban on transgender service members, only those that are already serving are allowed to express themselves according to their gender identity.
The various service branches were expected to have made adequate preparations so they could begin accepting out transgender recruits beginning on July 1. But Defense Secretary Jim Mattis imposed a six-month delay after the heads of the various branches said they needed more time to study the issue and see if they would need to provide any special accommodations for transgender service members.
On the other side of the aisle, U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) has introduced an amendment that would commend all LGBTQ service members, including transgender personnel, for their service to the United States.
If Republicans vote against Schneider’s amendment, or the Rules Committee refuses to allow it to receive a floor vote, Democrats will likely pounce on Republicans for denigrating the service of military members — making it a wedge issue that could be used during the 2018 elections.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill has signed a "shield law" protecting people who seek reproductive and transgender health care. The law also bars state officials from assisting with out-of-state investigations of those who travel to New Jersey for such care.
The bill passed the New Jersey General Assembly and State Senate on party-line votes in June. It prohibits state officials from extraditing people who are under investigation in other states for accessing or allowing their children to access abortion-related or transgender-related health services.
Former Disney star Geno Segers has left the new Broadway cast of Hadestown, following backlash over social media videos in which he mocked transgender people and dismissed claims that their rights are under attack.
Segers, who previously starred in the Disney XD sitcom Pair of Kings, was set to play Hades, god of the underworld, in the hit musical. According to the Broadway and community theater publication OnStage Blog, Segers had posted several videos to his social media channels with titles including "TRANS FAIRNESS?", "NO MORE TRANS?" and "HE...I MEAN SHE BROKE THE RECORD."
A transgender couple faces criminal charges after being beaten by a mob over their use of a women's restroom at Cypress Black Bayou Park in Benton, Louisiana.
Aurora Rush and Shae Sanders went to Cypress Black Bayou Park on May 31 for a lakeside cookout. Rush, a trans woman, used the women's restroom and returned to the lake without incident. Later, as the couple headed back to their car, Sanders, who is nonbinary and was assigned female at birth, stopped to use the same restroom, according to journalist S. Baum, reporting for Erin Reed's Erin in the Morning Substack.
As Rush waited outside, she says a man began harassing her. He followed her to her car, threatening to harm her if she entered the women's restroom, calling her slurs, and trying to provoke a fight. After leaving some belongings in the car, Rush returned to a pavilion outside the restroom to wait for Sanders.
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