House Democrats plan to unveil legislation Wednesday protecting the ability of transgender people to serve openly in the military as President Trump\u2019s administration works to remove them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The \u201cFit to Serve Act\u201d would prohibit the Defense Department from disqualifying transgender people from service or involuntarily separating members over a current diagnosis, history or symptoms of gender dysphoria, and bar the armed forces from requiring troops to serve only according to their birth sex. It also would forbid the military from denying \u201cmedically necessary health care coverage\u201d to\u00a0service members because of their gender identity, according to a copy of the legislation obtained by The Hill.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The proposal echoes a separate House bill<\/a> to prevent the military from hiring or firing someone because of their gender identity that more than 40 House Democrats filed in January ahead of Trump\u2019s inauguration. It also comes as House\u00a0GOP members move to permanently ban<\/a> transgender people from serving.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, intends to file the\u00a0measure Wednesday morning with Democratic Reps. Mark Takano (Calif.), Chrissy Houlahan (Penn.), Sara Jacobs (Calif.) and Eric Sorensen (Ill.), though Republicans\u2019 race to pass Trump\u2019s \u201cbig, beautiful\u201d reconciliation bill may impact the timing, one staffer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Smith, who chaired the Armed Services Committee from 2019 to 2022, spoke in opposition to Trump\u2019s first ban on trans military service and cheered<\/a> former President Biden\u2019s reversal of the \u201charmful, discriminatory policy\u201d in 2021. He voted against last year\u2019s annual defense policy bill over a provision<\/a> prohibiting TRICARE, the military\u2019s health program, from covering gender-affirming care for the children of service members, which Smith said was based on \u201ca biased notion against transgender people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement shared with The Hill, he said the Trump administration\u2019s latest policy \u201cwill weaken\u201d the\u00a0military by needlessly ousting members who have already proven they are fit to serve.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEnforcing this bigoted policy for the sake of cruelty and to score partisan points is antithetical to what the United States of America and our Armed Forces stand and fight for,\u201d said Smith. \u201cTransgender service members have put their lives on the line in defense of our freedom \u2014 we in Congress must now fight for their ability to serve and their fundamental right to exist.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump and administration officials since January have sought to enforce a strict gender binary, dismissing transgender identities as \u201cinsanity\u201d and equating them with deception in written policy and\u00a0public\u00a0remarks. In an executive order<\/a> signed during his first hours back in office, Trump proclaimed that the federal government recognizes only two sexes, male and female.\u00a0<\/p>\n In his order to ban transgender troops from the military, titled Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness, the president wrote that being trans is a \u201cfalsehood\u201d and transgender individuals \u201ccannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBeyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual\u2019s sex conflicts with a soldier\u2019s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one\u2019s personal life,\u201d Trump\u2019s order states.\u00a0<\/p>\n Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has claimed repeatedly that allowing transgender troops to serve in the military threatens its lethality and effectiveness and undermines unit cohesion. <\/p>\n \u201cEfforts to split our troops along the lines of identity weaken our Force and make us vulnerable,\u201d he wrote in a February memo directing department officials to begin enforcing Trump\u2019s order.\u00a0<\/p>\n A 2016\u00a0RAND Corporation study<\/a>\u00a0commissioned by the Pentagon found that allowing trans people to serve had no negative impact on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness or readiness.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dozens of transgender service members are challenging the administration\u2019s policy in court, arguing that it discriminates against trans people and violates their constitutional rights. In a recent ruling<\/a>, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to enforce its restrictions on trans military service\u00a0after two lower courts blocked them from taking effect.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI believe strongly that Trump\u2019s transgender military ban is unconstitutional and will ultimately fail in the courts,\u201d said Takano, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, \u201cbut as a co-equal branch of government, Congress has a duty to protect those who protect us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n