Biden Signs First Anti-LGBTQIA+ Federal Law In 20+ Years

Joe Biden has signed an a new act into law just before Christmas, barring military insurance from covering gender-affirming care for the children of service members. The provision is the first anti-LGBTQIA+ federal law enacted since the Defence of Marriage Act in 1996.

The National Defence Authorisation Act passed the House of Representatives and the Senate in the last few weeks, although a group of Senate Democrats unsuccessfully attempted to remove the anti-queer provision in the bill’s closing days.

Restrictions of abortions and DEI initiatives were also removed from the final bill.

In a statement released shortly after he signed the bill, the President reaffirmed that his administration “strongly opposes” restrictions on gender-affirming care for trans youth.

“By prohibiting the use of appropriated funds, the Department of Defense will be compelled to contravene clinical practice guidelines and clinical recommendations. The provision targets a group based on that group’s gender identity and interferes with parents’ roles to determine the best care for their children,” he said. “This section undermines our all-volunteer military’s ability to recruit and retain the finest fighting force the world has ever known by denying health care coverage to thousands of our service members’ children.”

“No service member should have to decide between their family’s health care access and their call to serve our Nation.”

It will be one of Biden’s last acts before Donald Trump becomes president again on January 20 and enacts his explicitly anti-LGBTQIA+ agenda.

Human Rights Campaign condemns signing

The Human Rights campaign has released a statement on social media condemning the signing.

“Military families lay everything on the line for our country. They uproot and move at a moment’s notice, make immense personal sacrifices, and often risk their lives in defense of our freedoms,” the group’s president, Kelley Robinson. “In turn, that sacrifice has been met with disrespect and the use of their children as a political bargaining chip.”

“For them, this law is not about politics – it’s about losing the freedom to make their own health care decisions. Congress and the White House have failed military families. This country’s first anti-LGBTQ+ federal law in almost 30 years disgraces those who have sacrificed so much.”