The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is ending its policy of handing out what it called “gender-affirming prosthetics,” cross-sex hormones and other “care” at taxpayers’ expense.
The agency said in a Monday press release that the change complies with President Donald Trump’s day-one executive order recognizing only “two sexes, male and female” in U.S. government policy. Federal regulations already prohibited the VA from paying for “gender alterations,” but it had interpreted the rule to provide a variety of transgender “care” under multiple presidents.
“Although VA has never offered sex-change surgeries, the department has been providing treatment for gender dysphoria for more than a decade,” the press release said. The Trump administration said the VA “has not kept consistent and reliable records” on how many veterans “endured these procedures,” though less than 1% of its veteran clients “are trans-identified.”
In its press release, the VA said it previously handed out “so-called gender-affirming prosthetics,” including wigs, fake breasts, “chest binders” designed to constrict real women’s breasts, “packers” and “dilator sets” to maintain surgically-created fake female genitals for men. “Packers” refers to fake male genitalia in LGBTQ activist circles.
The VA’s other “care” included “cross-sex hormone therapy,” “voice and communication training” to sound like the opposite sex and letters of recommendation for transgender surgeries to outside providers, the press release said.
A spokesperson for the VA told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the department started paying for cross-sex hormones as far back as 2011 and for artificial prosthetic genitalia in 2018, during the first Trump administration.
The VA said Monday that the taxpayer money saved from Trump’s policy change will go toward giving injured veterans prosthetic limbs and other traditional functions of the agency.
“I mean no disrespect to anyone, but VA should not be focused on helping Veterans attempt to change their sex,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in the press release. “The vast majority of Veterans and Americans agree, and that is why this is the right decision.”
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