The Continued Attack on Transgender Youth

Statement from Modern Military’s MilPride Cohort

As military families raising transgender children, we live with constant fear that our children’s lives are being politicized and threatened by the very government we serve.

Over the past two days, three federal actions have made unmistakably clear that transgender youth and the families who support them are under coordinated attack by the federal government. These actions are designed to eliminate access to medically necessary care nationwide and will have direct consequences for military families, force readiness, and retention.

What Happened

Criminalization of Care: H.R. 3492

The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3492, the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, legislation that would make it a federal crime for healthcare providers to offer gender-affirming care to anyone under the age of 18. The bill exposes doctors to up to ten years in prison and places parents and caregivers at risk of criminal liability for following evidence-based medical guidance.

Federal Funding Threats via HHS

The Department of Health and Human Services announced proposed regulatory actions to cut Medicaid and Medicare funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors. Because nearly all U.S. hospitals rely on these programs, this move would effectively eliminate access to care in nearly two dozen states where it is currently legal. Even before these rules are finalized, providers are already pulling back care out of fear of losing federal funding.

Medicaid Ban Legislation: H.R. 498

Congress is also advancing H.R. 498, the Do No Harm in Medicaid Act, which would statutorily prohibit Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care for minors nationwide. If enacted, this bill would further entrench disparities in access to care and disproportionately harm low-income families, including many military families who rely on Medicaid or CHIP during transitions, deployments, or periods of financial instability.

Taken together, these actions amount to a de facto nationwide ban, enforced through criminal prosecution, financial coercion, and the dismantling of public health coverage.

Fear Over Facts Endangers Children

The Representatives who voted for these bills and the officials advancing the HHS actions are capitulating to a modern moral panic. American history is littered with examples of the damage caused when fear eclipses facts, from censorship campaigns to false child-abuse crusades that destroyed families and lives. We demand better from our elected officials than legislation driven by hysteria at the expense of our children’s safety.

Gender-affirming healthcare is not experimental or ideological. It is evidence-based, medically supervised care supported by major medical organizations and provided only after careful evaluation. For some transgender youth, this care is life-saving.

Peer-reviewed research shows that adolescents who receive puberty blockers or hormone therapy experience 60% lower odds of moderate-to-severe depression and 73% lower odds of suicidality compared with those who are denied care. Removing access does not protect children or their innocence. In fact, it increases their risk of harm.

The Impact on Military Families—and the Force

For military families, the impact is immediate and profound.

Military life already brings instability: frequent relocations, disrupted education, parental deployments, and limited control over where families live. Many military families with transgender children are stationed in states where access to gender-affirming care is already restricted or nonexistent. These federal actions would erase access even in states where care remains legal, forcing families into impossible choices like traveling long distances, risking prosecution, or leaving military service altogether.

We have told Congress what this means in practice. Service members are declining assignments, foregoing promotions, and considering separation from the military to protect their children’s health and safety. Policies that drive families out of service undermine readiness, weaken retention, and directly contradict the military’s stated commitment to family stability and force resilience.

When families are forced to choose between serving their country and keeping their children alive, the result is a less ready force and a broken promise to those who serve.

We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for the freedom to make informed medical decisions for our children in partnership with licensed healthcare professionals—without fear of prison, loss of healthcare access, or government retaliation.

Attacks on transgender youth are attacks on military families. And attacks on military families threaten the strength, readiness, and sustainability of the all-volunteer force.

And our military deserves leaders who understand that protecting service members means protecting their families.

Military families understand sacrifice, but sacrificing our children’s safety, dignity, and well-being is not an option. We urge lawmakers to reject legislation rooted in fear and listen instead to the families, medical professionals, and young people whose lives are directly at stake.

Are you a military-affiliated parent or caregiver of a transgender or gender-diverse child (of any age)?

You are not alone.

Modern Military’s MilPride program is a peer support and advocacy group for active-duty service members, veterans, and military families raising transgender children. MilPride provides a confidential space to connect with others who understand the unique challenges of military life—frequent moves, inconsistent access to care, and navigating policy changes that directly impact our children’s safety and well-being.

Through MilPride, families find community, share resources, and work together to advocate for evidence-based policies that protect transgender youth and support military readiness and retention.

📩 If you would like to get connected, email us at milpride@modernmilitary.org