Military Families Challenge Abrupt Loss of Health Care for Transgender Dependents Under Trump Administration Directive
“This is a sweeping reversal of military health policy and a betrayal of military families who have sacrificed for our country” – Sarah Austin, GLAD Law
Three military families are challenging an abrupt reversal of Department of Defense policy, which now prohibits military clinics and hospitals from providing continuing medical care for their transgender adolescent and adult children. The new policy also prohibits TRICARE, the military insurance plan, from covering the costs of care for both transgender youth and young adults no matter where it is received.
Servicemembers, including the plaintiff families, have been able to obtain medical care for their transgender children through the military health system for nearly a decade. This spring, President Trump ordered the Department of Defense to terminate this essential care.
As a result of the Trump administration’s directive, the families’ trusted doctors cannot provide ongoing care and families are unfairly forced to take on this financial burden.
The case, Doe v. Department of Defense, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The plaintiffs are proceeding with pseudonyms for the safety and privacy of their families. They are represented by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR), Brown Goldstein & Levy, LLP, and Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP.
“This is a sweeping reversal of military health policy and a betrayal of military families who have sacrificed for our country,” said Sarah Austin, Staff Attorney at GLAD Law. “When a servicemember is deployed and focused on the mission they deserve to know their family is taken care of. This Administration has backtracked on that core promise and put servicemembers at risk of losing access to health care their children desperately need.”
“President Trump has illegally overstepped his authority by abruptly cutting off necessary medical care for military families,” Shannon Minter, Legal Director at NCLR. “This lawless directive is part of a dangerous pattern of this administration ignoring legal requirements and abandoning our servicemembers.”
“President Trump’s Executive Order blocks military hospitals from giving transgender youth the care their doctors deem necessary and their parents have approved,” said Sharif Jacob, partner at Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP. “Today we filed a lawsuit to put an end to his order, and the agency guidance implementing it.”
“This administration is unlawfully targeting military families by denying essential care to their transgender children,” said Liam Brown, an associate with Keker, Van Nest & Peters. “We will not stand by while those who serve are stripped of the ability to care for their families.”
The Trump administration has waged a relentless assault on transgender Americans, issuing a barrage of discriminatory executive orders—now facing multiple federal lawsuits—designed to strip away their basic legal rights and deny them any legal recognition. GLAD Law and NCLR also currently represent plaintiffs challenging the Trump administration’s policy purging transgender servicemembers from the U.S. military.
Learn more about the case Doe v. Department of Defense.