Greater than 160 Home Democrats on Friday known as for provisions associated to LGBTQ service members and their dependents to be faraway from Congress’s annual protection coverage invoice, arguing that the GOP-backed amendments discriminate towards LGBTQ individuals and threaten navy readiness and retention.
The Republican-controlled Home in June handed its model of the Nationwide Protection Authorization Act (NDAA) with amendments that might limit entry to gender-affirming well being look after transgender service members and their households and ban LGBTQ satisfaction flags and drag performances from navy bases.
The Home invoice, which handed on a largely party-line 217-199 vote, would additionally forestall the Division of Protection’s college system from offering supplies that promote “radical gender ideology” to college students, which the invoice defines as ideas or curricula that counsel intercourse is fluid or that state an individual can socially or medically transition to a special gender.
Six Democrats — none of whom signed Friday’s letter — voted in favor of the measure, whereas three Republicans opposed it.
“These sections of the NDAA were constructed to score political points rather than support and invest in our most important operational advantage: our service members,” 162 Home Democrats argued in Friday’s letter to leaders on the Home and Senate Armed Providers committees.
“If service members are concerned for their health care, their right to exist, or the wellbeing of their children and loved ones, they cannot focus on their jobs, thereby weakening military readiness and retention rates,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chairs of the Transgender Equality Activity Pressure, and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus.
“Ensuring our ranks reflect the diversity of the American people is essential to the morale and cohesion of our Armed Forces and to our national security,” they wrote. “We strongly urge you to remove these harmful sections from the NDAA during conference negotiations.”
The Democratic-controlled Senate has but to vote on its model of the invoice, which additionally contains restrictions on gender-affirming care.
