WASHINGTON: The US Department of Veterans Affairs announced on Monday it will phase out treatment for gender dysmorphia, acting on President Donald Trump´s campaign against trans people.
The government department assigned to helping current and former American soldiers said any money saved with this change will go towards helping paralyzed veterans and amputees regain their independence.
As part of his blitz of executive orders touching on just about every aspect of life in America since taking office, Trump has decreed the government will only recognize two sexes and ordered that trans people be barred from the military.
Veterans Affairs said in a statement on Monday that starting now it will no longer offer cross-sex hormone therapy, except to people who are already receiving it from the VA. He said trans-identified veterans will always get the benefits they are entitled to under the law. “But if Veterans want to attempt to change their sex, they can do so on their own dime,” Collins said.
The VA said its doctors have never carried out sex change surgery but for more than a decade provided treatment for gender dysmorphia, the condition resulting from a disconnect between a person´s gender identity and their assigned birth gender.