Honoring the Service of All Veterans

According to a national survey by NCTE and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, fully one in five transgender adults in the United States – or an estimated 140,000 transgender people today – have served in the armed forces. While still not able to do so openly (nearly one in ten transgender veterans reports having been discharged due to their gender identity), transgender people have served in every conflict in our nation’s history, and many continue to today.

In recent years, enormous steps have been taken toward achieving equal access to support and earned benefits for transgender veterans. Undoubtedly the most visible achievement has been the 2011 Veterans Health Administration directive, updated in 2013, calling for respectful and nondiscriminatory services for transgender veterans, and equal access to health care to the greatest extent possible under current regulations. The Veterans Administration has continued in recent years its efforts to increase providers’ cultural competence and clinical knowledge for serving transgender veterans, and NCTE serves as an advisor for an ongoing VHA working group on these efforts, which have included developing training, clinical guidelines, and consultation for providers. This is an area where a very modest effort can lead to significant gains in health care quality by giving targeted attention to previously-neglected barriers.

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Veterans Health Admin. Renews Trans Health Care Directive

The Veterans Health Administration has issued a renewed and updated directive on providing health care for transgender veterans and veterans with intersex conditions. VHA originally issued this directive in June 2011, and like other VHA directives it carried a technical expiration date, and was intended to be updated or included in other, permanent VHA policy documents in the future. While the expiration date passed in late 2012, actual VA policy never changed, and the new directive is effective for at least the next five years.

The renewed VHA directive is essentially identical to the 2011 version, but is accompanied by an official FAQ document that provides helpful clarification on patients’ rights to be treated according to their gender identity for purposes of pronouns, restroom access, and room placements, as well as on how to update gender markers in VHA patient records. There is also additional guidance for VHA health care providers who may be treating a transgender or intersex patient for the first time.

Honoring Trans Veterans

On this Veterans’ Day, NCTE salutes the contributions and sacrifices of transgender veterans. According to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 1 in 5 transgender adults has served in the armed forces. These brave Americans have served in silence, and often been denied the benefits they worked so hard and risked so much to earn.

In recent years, we have begun to make progress. In 2011 the Veterans Administration issued a directive calling for respectful and appropriate treatment for transgender veterans seeking health care. NCTE has continued to work with the VA to implement that directive across the country, from providing guidance to VA medical staff to updating patient records to reflect a person’s gender identity. And with the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” we have finally begun a much-needed conversation about open military service for transgender people.

There is still much to do. Trans people are still forced to serve in silence, as our non-trans gay, lesbian, and bisexual brothers and sisters thankfully no longer have to do. Trans veterans are still denied their hard-earned health benefits when it comes to medically necessary transition-related surgeries. NCTE will keep working to fulfill our promises to trans servicemembers and veterans.

NCTE’s resource on VA benefits and the VA transgender directive can be found here.

Read the Veterans Health Administration Directive here.