News
127 House Dems urge White House to keep rule for trans health care
Reports indicate Trump administration poised to reverse Obama-era change
Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.) is urging the White House to preserve a proposed rule in favor of trans health care. (Photo public domain)
A group of 127 House Democrats led by Reps. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.) is calling on the White House to keep intact an Obama-era rule barring medical providers from denying health care to transgender patients, including gender reassignment surgery.
The letter, dated May 23 and sent to Office of Management & Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, points to reports a rule change is pending before the White House and calls on Mulvaney “to reject a proposed rule that undermines these important protections.”
“We urge you to abandon any proposal that would erode the Health Care Rights Law’s important protection, undermine Congress’ sole lawmaking authority and allow health care providers to discriminate against their patients,” the letter says.
Other lawmakers who spearheaded the letter are Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).
The Obama-era rule is based on Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in health care. The Obama administration interpreted that language to apply to transgender people seeking health care, including transition-related care such as gender reassignment surgery.
Although the Trump administration hasn’t explicitly stated it plans to repeal the rule, that seems to be the intent based on media reports and filings by the Justice Department in litigation against the rule. Another possibility is the Trump administration would seek to impose a religious exemption.
The letter to the White House warns Mulvaney that even a religious exemption would have deleterious consequences.
“Adding any type of religious exemption, or enforcing the Health Care Rights Law in a way that allows for a religious exemption, is antithetical to the purpose and language of the Health Care Rights Law and would undermine Congress’ lawmaking authority,” the letter says.
Earlier this month, Secretary of Health & Human Services Alex Azar told the Blade during an appearance at the White House press briefing he had no knowledge of potential repeal of this rule. An HHS spokesperson said later the secretary was briefed on the matter.
The Obama-era rule is currently moot in any event. Last year, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor issued an injunction barring the U.S. government from enforcing the rule as a result of litigation filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Despite this court order — and even if the Trump administration were to reverse the underlying rule — transgender people could still sue medical providers in court based on the underlying law in the Affordable Care Act that prohibits discrimination in health care on the basis of sex. A growing number of courts are interpreting laws against sex discrimination to apply to LGBT people regardless of the views of the Trump administration.
The White House Office of Management & Budget didn’t respond to the Blade’s request to comment Wednesday on the letter.
The 2025 Capital Pride Honors awards ceremony and gala reception was held at the National Building Museum on Thursday, June 5. Honorees included Cathy Renna, Jerry St. Louis, Ernest Hopkins, Lamar Braithwaite, Rev. Dr. Donna Claycomb Sokol, Kriston Pumphrey, Gia Martinez, Kraig Williams and SMYAL. Presenters and speakers included U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Amber Ruffin, Raven-Symoné and Paul Wharton.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Congress
Wasserman Schultz: Allies must do more to support LGBTQ Jews
A Wider Bridge honored Fla. congresswoman at Capital Jewish Museum on Thursday
Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Thursday said allies need to do more to support LGBTQ Jewish people in the wake of Oct. 7.
“Since Oct. 7, what has been appalling to me is that LGBTQ+ Jewish organizations and efforts to march in parades, to be allies, to give voice to other causes have faced rejection,” said the Florida Democrat at the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C. after A Wider Bridge honored her at its Pride event.
Wasserman Schultz, a Jewish Democrat who represents Florida’s 25th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, added the “silence of our allies … has been disappointing.”
“It makes your heart feel hollow and it makes me feel alone and isolated, which is why making sure that we have spaces that we can organize in every possible way in every sector of our society as Jews is so incredibly important,” she said.
The Israeli government says Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, killed roughly 1,200 people, including upwards of 360 partygoers at the Nova Music Festival, when it launched a surprise attack on the country. The militants also kidnapped more than 200 people on that day.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed nearly 55,000 people in the enclave since Oct. 7. Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, has said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who the Israel Defense Forces killed last October, are among those who have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel.
A Wider Bridge is a group that “advocates for justice, counters LGBTQphobia, and fights antisemitism and other forms of hatred.”
Thursday’s event took place 15 days after a gunman killed two Israeli Embassy employees — Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim — as they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum.
Police say a man who injured more than a dozen people on June 1 in Boulder, Colo., when he threw Molotov cocktails into a group of demonstrators who were calling for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages was yelling “Free Palestine.” The Associated Press notes that authorities said the man who has been charged in connection with the attack spent more than a year planning it.
La Fiesta: The Official Latinx Pride Party was held at Bunker on Thursday, May 29. The event was hosted by Lady J Monroe and featured performances by Mia Carlisle, Stefon Royce, Evry Pleasure and Alexis Carter St. James.
(Washington Blade photos by Robert Rapanut)
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Wasserman Schultz: Allies must do more to support LGBTQ Jews
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