WASHINGTON, DC, July 12. 2017—Yesterday evening, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) proposed an amendment to the National Defense Reauthorization Act that would ban transgender service members and their families from receiving transition-related medical care from military health services. In response, the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund has released the following statement:

“This amendment is an unconscionable attempt to insert transphobia into a bill of essential
importance to our national security, detracting from the priority of keeping our nation safe. To try to deny transgender service members and their families access to transition-related health care is a disservice to the people who serve the nation by putting their lives in harm’s way by denying them medically necessary health care solely because of who they are. According to the 2015 US Trans Survey, nearly 1 in 5 transgender Americans serve or have served in our nation’s military. Prejudice and bigotry have no place in our military and in our national security,” said Victoria M. Rodríguez-Roldán, Director of our Trans/Gender Non-Conforming Justice Project.

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CONTACT:
Kayley Whalen
Digital Strategies and Social Media Manager
610-547-3227
kwhalen@thetaskforce.org