Our 2026 Advocacy Agenda: Protecting LGBTQ Military Families, Expanding Equality, and Fighting for the Right to Serve

For decades, LGBTQ+ service members, veterans, and military families have carried the weight of serving a nation that has not always fully protected or supported them. Today, the landscape is shifting again. Hard-won rights like HIV+ military service, gender-affirming healthcare, safety at DoDEA schools, marriage equality, and family-building access face new threats from policy rollbacks, outdated state laws, and inconsistent implementation across the Department of Defense.

At the Modern Military Association of America, we are solely dedicated to protecting LGBTQ+ military members, LGBTQ+ veterans, and LGBTQ+ military families. Our community cannot afford to lose ground. That is why our 2026 Advocacy Agenda is bold, evidence-driven, and grounded in real lived experience.

Defending LGBTQ+ Service, Expression, and Visibility Across the Force

Before we dive into our specific policy priorities, we must acknowledge the broader fight we continue to lead: protecting the right of LGBTQ+ service members, veterans, and their families to exist, serve openly, and be visible.

Our ongoing efforts include:

• Ending the transgender military ban once and for all, ensuring every qualified transgender American can serve without fear of exclusion or reversal.
  
• Restoring freedom of expression on military installations, including the right to display Pride flags, host Pride observances, and uphold inclusive celebrations for ALL communities that reflect the diversity of today’s force.
  
• Pushing back against book bans and censorship efforts that silence LGBTQ+ stories and erase queer military families from educational spaces on base.
  
• Eliminating the drag ban, which has been weaponized to suppress LGBTQ+ culture, community-building, and morale-boosting events across installations.
  

These issues are not symbolic; they are about safety, belonging, morale, and the fundamental right of every service member to live authentically while serving their country. Their implementation and enforcement directly impacts force readiness, recruitment, and retention.

Our 2026 Advocacy Agenda:

Defending the Right to Serve: Equality for HIV+ Service Members

Despite federal court victories affirming that HIV+ individuals can serve fully and honorably, barriers persist throughout the military. Outdated enlistment, commissioning, and promotion policies are still barring too many qualified individuals from service and career advancement. 

Our advocacy focuses on four key actions:

• Updating enlistment, commissioning, and promotion policies across the services to reflect court rulings and modern medical science.
  
• Training recruiters, commanders, and personnel so these policies are applied consistently—not selectively or incorrectly.
  
• Introducing federal legislation to codify these changes permanently so no administration can reverse them.
  
• Monitoring implementation to identify systemic barriers that continue to restrict opportunities for HIV+ service members.

In 2026, we are committed to ensuring that military service is based on capability, not stigma. No HIV+ service member should be held back or barred from service because of outdated prejudices.

Restoring Gender-Affirming Healthcare for Military Youth and Adult Dependents*

The removal of gender-affirming care from DoD facilities and TRICARE coverage created one of the most damaging rollbacks of LGBTQ+ military rights in a generation. Families are now forced to navigate inconsistent civilian networks, pay out-of-pocket costs, travel across state lines to get the care they once had guaranteed, or in extreme cases leave service or live apart in order to secure the necessary care.

Our agenda calls for:

• Restoring access to gender-affirming care at Military Treatment Facilities.
  
• Reinstating TRICARE coverage of gender affirming care for transgender youth and adult dependents.*
  
• Highlighting real-world stories from families impacted by these policy changes and showing how lack of care affects mental health, readiness, and retention.
  
• Building public pressure and bipartisan support to reverse these damaging rollbacks.

No military family should have fewer healthcare protections simply because they serve, and no LGBTQ+ military child should lose lifesaving care due to politics.

Protecting and Strengthening Marriage Equality

With federal protections increasingly under scrutiny, LGBTQ+ military spouses and families cannot rely on historical precedent alone. Currently, 25 states still hold outdated anti-marriage-equality statutes or constitutional amendments. This patchwork of state laws means any future challenge to Obergefell could throw military families into chaos.

Our work in 2026 will focus on:

• Defending Obergefell v. Hodges and the Respect for Marriage Act, ensuring marriage equality remains the law of the land.
  
• Eliminating outdated state statutes that conflict with equality and undermine military family rights.
  
• Working with lawmakers and DoD leadership to ensure all marriages are recognized and respected under military policy, regardless of changing state laws.
  
• Preparing for legal and political challenges so LGBTQ+ military families remain protected, no matter the political climate.

The national recognition of marriage equality determines our access to healthcare, housing, PCS orders, survivor benefits, family planning, and essential protections for LGBTQ+ military spouses and dependents. We will not allow our families to slip into legal uncertainty.

Expanding Access to Family-Building Resources and TRICARE Coverage

For many LGBTQ+ service members and veterans, family building requires additional resources and support: IVF, IUI, donor services, egg or sperm preservation, gestational surrogacy, and more. Yet TRICARE coverage remains deeply unequal despite recent court victories, leaving countless families to shoulder thousands in out-of-pocket costs simply because of their identity or medical circumstances.

Our agenda demands:

• Equitable TRICARE coverage for IVF, fertility preservation, and surrogacy so all families, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or medical diagnosis, have a fair path to parenthood.
  
• Updated DoD and VA policies that reflect recent court rulings and existing NDAA expansions.
  
• Collection of family stories to document the real financial and emotional impact of gaps and inconsistencies in coverage.
  
• Collaboration with lawmakers, DoD leadership, and VA administrators to expand family-building resources at installations worldwide.

Every military family deserves the opportunity to grow. Equity in service must include equity in parenthood.

Why This Advocacy Agenda Matters Now

LGBTQ+ service members and military families are facing the most significant civil rights challenges since the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Our community is strong, resilient, and experienced, but we must mobilize together if we want to protect the hard-fought progress we’ve made.

In a time when so many military and veteran families are going underground, once again hiding their identities from their neighbors and their commands, it is up to us to stand firm, hold the line, and fight for our rights to be solidified.

How You Can Get Involved

We’re just getting started, and we want your voice in this fight.

📣 Stay tuned for upcoming actions, events, and ways to get directly involved in our national advocacy work.

📣 If you have lived experience with HIV+ service, gender-affirming healthcare, marriage equality, or family-building barriers, we want to hear from you.

Your testimonials help policymakers understand the real impact on real military families.

👉 Share your story or testimonial with us today.

Your lived experience can change laws, shift policy, and protect our families for generations to come.

Together, we can, and will, defend every LGBTQ+ service member, veteran, and family.

*As of November 2025, there are potential NDAA amendments that would remove healthcare from adult military dependents. We will update our advocacy agenda with the most accurate and recent policies once the FY26 NDAA is finalized. 

We’re up against some of the most aggressive anti-LGBTQ+ policies in years.
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