News
First steps of Pentagon review on trans service underway
Top brass to meet on lifting prohibition based on gender identity
The first steps of the review of the transgender military ban are underway. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the working group established to examine openly transgender military service is set to hold its first meeting on Monday.
“The working group will be comprised of military and civilian personnel from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the various military services and the Joint Staff and will look at the policy and readiness implications of welcoming transgender persons to serve openly in the U.S. military,” the official said.
According to USA Today, key issues for the Pentagon to resolve are housing for transgender troops, what uniforms they’ll be permitted to wear and medical treatments. It’s unclear at this point if the military intends cover transition-related care for transgender service members.
In a memo dated July 28 and obtained Wednesday by the Washington Blade, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter outlines his plan for transgender service that he announced earlier this month. The memo seeks to protect transgender troops from expulsion and directs officials to develop a plan within six months to incorporate those troops into the ranks.
“The working group will start with the assumption that transgender persons can serve openly without adverse impact on military effectiveness and readiness unless and except where objective, practical impediments are identified, and shall present its recommendations to me within 180 days,” Carter says.
Carter writes in the memo as of July 13 no service member may be involuntarily separated or denied reenlistment on the basis of gender identity without the personal approval of a senior civilian official — an apparent attempt to limit or halt further discharges. The senior civil official given this authority is Brad Carson, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, who’s also leading the working group.
Although repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” enabled openly gay people to serve in the U.S. military, transgender troops are prohibited from serving openly in the armed forces under DOD Instruction 6130.03, which calls for separation of service members who undergo gender reassignment or have “psychosexual conditions” that include transvestitism or transsexualism.
Amid building pressure from LGBT advocates to lift the trans ban, Carter announced last month he intends to set up a working group that over a six-month period is set to examine the policy with a bias toward allowing Americans to serve in the armed forces regardless of gender identity and raised the authority to discharge individuals in the armed forces on the basis of gender identity.
Sue Fulton, president of the LGBT military group SPARTA, said the process underway at the Pentagon is “moving forward with appropriate speed.”
“Pentagon leaders recognize the problems currently facing unit commanders, who have been trying to support their transgender troops under unwieldy and confusing regulations,” Fulton added. “The next few months will allow the Working Group to bring a hodgepodge of outdated personnel and medical policies into alignment with current medical understanding; the result will strengthen the force and keep good troops where we need them.”
Aaron Belkin, director of the San Francisco-based Palm Center, said plenty of material exists that can help guide the Pentagon toward openly transgender military service.
“The research by retired General and Flag Officers as well as the experiences of 18 foreign militaries, who allow transgender troops to serve, show that administrative and medical issues associated with lifting the ban are not complicated or burdensome, and that implementation is easy to get right,” Belkin said.
Photos
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony
The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.
A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.
The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
District of Columbia
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade
WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.
Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.
Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.
Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”
“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”
“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.
The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.
Congress
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
‘Big Beautiful Bill’ now heads to the Senate
The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted 215-214 for passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” reconciliation package, which includes provisions that would prohibit the use of federal funds to support gender-affirming care.
But for an 11th hour revision of the bill late Wednesday night by conservative lawmakers, Medicaid and CHIP would have been restricted only from covering treatments and interventions administered to patients younger than 18.
The legislation would also drop requirements that some health insurers must cover gender-affirming care as an “essential health benefit” and force states that currently mandate such coverage to find it independently. Plans could still offer coverage for transgender care but without the EHB classification patients will likely pay higher out of pocket costs.
To offset the cost of extending tax cuts from 2017 that disproportionately benefited the wealthiest Americans, the reconciliation bill contains significant cuts to spending for federal programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Human Rights Campaign criticized House Republicans in a press release and statement by the group’s president, Kelley Robinson:
“People in this country want policies and solutions that make life better and expand access to the American Dream. Instead, anti-equality lawmakers voted to give handouts to billionaires built on the backs of hardworking people — with devastating consequences for the LGBTQ+ community.
“If the cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP or resources like Planned Parenthood clinics weren’t devastating enough, House Republicans added a last minute provision that expands its attacks on access to best practice health care to transgender adults.
“This cruel addition shows their priorities have never been about lowering costs or expanding health care access–but in targeting people simply for who they are. These lawmakers have abandoned their constituents, and as they head back to their districts, know this: they will hear from us.”
Senate Republicans are expected to pass the bill with the budget reconciliation process, which would allow them to bypass the filibuster and clear the spending package with a simple majority vote.
Changes are expected as the bill will be reviewed and amended by committees, particularly the Finance Committee, and then brought to the floor for debate — though modifications are expected to focus on Medicaid reductions and debate over state and local tax deductions.
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Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
PHOTOS: D.C. Trans Pride
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