News
Rep. Hartzler wants another shot at anti-trans military amendment
Missouri Republican wants inclusion of measure in spending package
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) is seeking another shot at barring funds for transition-related case in the U.S. military
(Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) is looking for another shot at her amendment that would have barred the Pentagon from paying for transition-related health care for transgender service members, according to Politico.
In the aftermath of the U.S. House narrowly rejecting the amendment as part of the fiscal year 2008 defense authorization bill, Hartzler is reportedly leading “a mix of GOP defense hawks and conservatives” to include the measure in a different spending bill that will soon arrive on the floor.
“Steps must be taken to address this misuse of our precious defense dollars,” Hartzler said in a statement to Politico. “This policy hurts our military’s readiness and will take over a billion dollars from the Department of Defense’s budget. This is still an important issue that needs to be addressed.”
As introduced by Hartzler the last time around, the amendment would prohibit the Pentagon from made expenditures in its health system for transition-related care, including hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery, for both service members and their dependents.
According Politico, supporters of the amendment are urging House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to use a procedural trick to include the amendment automatically as part of the spending bill. Failing that, they’re requesting another floor vote on the amendment as part of consideration for the base bill.
The House last week voted down the Hartler amendment by a 214-209. Twenty-four Republicans and all 190 Democrats present voted against the measure.
According to Politico, most Republicans expected the Hartzler amendment to pass overwhelmingly and were surprised when it failed. (Ryan told the Washington Blade during his news conference he supported the measure and predicted it would pass.) The morning after the defeat of the amendment, Republicans spent a good chuck of a closed-door GOP conference meeting harping about what happened, the Politico reported.
Conceivably, the measure could pass the second time around. Six Republican last time didn’t vote or were absent (including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, who’s recovering from a gun shot wound). Rep Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who voted against the provision, has since said his vote was in error and he meant to vote for it.
Caroline Boothe, a House Rules Committee spokesperson, said Hartzler hasn’t yet submitted an amendment for potential consideration as part of the defense appropriations bill.
“We have yet to receive the Hartzler amendment again for the bills next week,” Boothe said. “But when we do, the Committee will consider it like we do any other amendments.”
According to Politico, senior Republican sources predicted leadership would deny the request to add Hartzler amendment’s to a House rule because it would circumvent regular order. Whether a separate floor amendment on the proposal would be allowed is unclear.
Openly transgender service has been the rule for the U.S. military for about a year in the aftermath of an Obama-era policy change that lifted the regulatory ban on their service. Transgender people can come out in the military without fear of discharge, but openly transgender people still can’t enlist. Defense Secretary James Mattis pushed back the target date for that change until Jan. 1 pending a review of transgender service.
Media outlets reported when Hartzler offered her around last week, Mattis privately contacted her to urge her to withdraw the measure. White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short denied the White House whipped a “no” vote on the measure, although he said there was a question about whether it should be include in the defense authorization bill.
Aaron Belkin, director of the San Francisco-based Palm Center, blasted Hartzler in a statement for not giving up on her amendment, accusing of inventing false data to bolster her case against transgender military service.
“Thousands of transgender troops have been serving for an entire year, and they have been widely praised by Commanders,” Belkin said, “and 18 foreign militaries allow transgender personnel to serve. Transgender military service works, and pretending that it does not requires inventing data. This is the same, discredited strategy that opponents used to prop up the failed ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy the first time around.”
Read more at Politico.
State Department
Democracy Forward files FOIA request for State Department bathroom policy records
April 20 memo outlined anti-transgender rule
Democracy Forward on Tuesday filed a Freedom of Information Act request for records on the State Department’s new bathroom policy.
A memo titled “Updates Regarding Biological Sex and Intimate Spaces, Including Restrooms” that the State Department issued on April 20 notes employees can no longer use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
“The administration affirms that there are two sexes — male and female — and that federal facilities should operate on this objective and longstanding basis to ensure consistency, privacy, and safety in shared spaces,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggot told the Daily Signal, a conservative news website that first reported on the memo. “In line with President Trump’s executive order this provides clear, uniform guidance to the department by grounding policy in biological sex as determined at birth.”
President Donald Trump shortly after he took office in January 2025 issued an executive order that directed the federal government to only recognize two genders: male and female. The sweeping directive also ordered federal government agencies to “effectuate this policy by taking appropriate action to ensure that intimate spaces designated for women, girls, or females (or for men, boys, or males) are designated by sex and not identity.”
Democracy Forward’s FOIA request that the Washington Blade exclusively obtained on Tuesday is specifically seeking a copy of the memo that details the State Department’s new bathroom policy. Democracy Forward has also requested “all” memo-specific communications between the State Department’s Bureau of Global Public Affairs and the Daily Signal from April 1-21.
Federal Government
House Republicans push nationwide ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
Measures would restrict federal funding for LGBTQ-affirming schools
Republicans have been gaining ground in reshaping education policy to be less inclusive toward LGBTQ students at the state level, and now they are turning their focus to Capitol Hill.
Some GOP lawmakers are pushing for a nationwide “Don’t Say Gay” bill, doubling down on their commitment to being the party of “traditional family values” by excluding anyone who does not identify with their sex at birth.
The largest anti-LGBTQ education legislation to reach the House chamber is House Bill 2616 — the Parental Rights Over the Education and Care of Their Kids Act, or the PROTECT Kids Act. The PROTECT Kids Act, proposed by U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), and co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Robert Onder (R-Mo.), and Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), would require any public elementary and middle schools that receive federal funding to require parental consent to change a child’s gender expression in school.
The bill, which was discussed during Tuesday’s House Rules Committee hearing, would specifically require any schools that get federal money from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 — which was created to minimize financial discrepancies in education for low-income students — to get parental approval before identifying any child’s gender identity as anything other than what was provided to the school initially. This includes getting approval before allowing children to use their preferred locker room or bathroom.
It reads that any school receiving this funding “shall obtain parental consent before changing a covered student’s (1) gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form; or (2) sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms or bathrooms.”
LGBTQ rights advocates have criticized both national and state efforts to require parental permission to use a child’s preferred gender identity, as it raises issues of at-home safety — especially if the home is not LGBTQ-affirming — and could lead to the outing of transgender or gender-curious students.
A follow-up bill, HB 2617, proposed by Owens, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, prevents the use of federal funding to “advance concepts related to gender ideology,” using the definition from President Donald Trump’s 2025 Executive Order 14168, making that an enshrined definition in law of sex rather than just by executive order. There is also a bill making its way through the senate with the same text— Senate Bill 2251.
Advocates have also criticized this follow-up legislation, as it would restrict school staff — including teachers and counselors — from acknowledging trans students’ identities or providing any support. They have said that this kind of isolation can worsen mental health outcomes for LGBTQ youth and allows for education to be politicized rather than being based in reality.
David Stacy, the Human Rights Campaign’s vice president of government affairs, called this legislation out for using LGBTQ children as political pawns in an ideology fight — one that could greatly harm the safety of these children if passed.
“Trans kids are not a political agenda — they are students who deserve safety and affirmation at school like anyone else,” Stacy said in a statement. “Despite the many pressing issues facing our nation, House Republicans continue their bizarre obsession with trans people. H.R. 2616 does not protect children. It targets them. This bill is cruel, and we’re prepared to fight it.”
This is similar to Florida House Bills 1557 and 1069, referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and “Don’t Say They” bill, respectively, restricting classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity, prohibiting the use of pronouns consistent with one’s gender identity, expanding book banning procedures, and censoring health curriculum.
The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking 233 bills related to restricting student and educator rights in the U.S.
Botswana’s government has repealed a provision of its colonial-era penal code that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.
The country’s High Court in 2019 struck down the provision. The Batswana government in 2022 said it would abide by the ruling after country’s Court of Appeals upheld it.
The government on March 26 announced the repeal of the penal code’s “unnatural offenses” section that specifically referenced any person who “has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature” and “permits any other person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature.”
Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana, a Batswana advocacy group known by the acronym LEGABIBO, challenged the criminalization law with the support of the Southern Africa Litigation Center. LEGABIBO in a statement it posted to its Facebook on April 25 welcomed the repeal.
“For many, these provisions were not just words on paper — they were lived realities,” said LEGABIBO. “They affected access to healthcare, safety, employment, and the freedom to love and exist openly.”
“LEGABIBO believes that the deletion of these sections is a necessary and long-overdue step toward restoring dignity and aligning our legal framework with constitutional values of equality and human rights,” it added. “It is a clear message that LGBTIQ+ persons are not criminals, and that their lives and relationships deserve protection, not punishment.”
LEGABIBO further stressed that “while this does not erase the harm of the past, it creates space for healing, inclusion, and continued progress toward full equality.”
Democracy Forward files FOIA request for State Department bathroom policy records
House Republicans push nationwide ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
Botswana repeals colonial-era sodomy law
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Calendar: April 24-30
