The "Big, Beautiful Bill" and Trans People

With all this talk about the Trump administration's so-called "Big, Beautiful Bill", I would like to talk about a part of the bill that is not only seldom discussed by the mainstream media, but that will also harm trans people immensely. It is my hope that this blog post will reach those who care about the LGBTQ+ community and incentivize them to talk about this particular part of the bill that I am about to discuss.

According to NBC News, the Trump administration's "Big, Beautiful Bill", which is more than 1,000 pages long and which has already been passed by the House, "initially would have prohibited Medicaid from covering 'gender transition procedures' for minors, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery." On Wednesday, however, House Republicans introduced an amendment to the bill that struck the word "minor" and the phrase "under 18 years of age" from the section of the bill that talks about prohibiting Medicaid from covering gender affirming care. The fact that this amendment was added to the bill proves that Republicans do not want any trans person, regardless of their age, to live a long, fulfilling life (which is something that LGBTQ+ people like myself have already known for a long time). Another part of the Trump administration's "Big, Beautiful Bill" according to NBC News, "would prohibit transition-related medical care as an essential health benefit under health care plans offered through the Affordable Care Act's marketplace." The prohibitions in this bill will most likely have a significant effect on hundreds of thousands of trans adults (and minors!) in the U.S., as about 180,000 trans adults use Medicaid as their primary insurance. Additionally, a study published in 2023 found that nearly 1 in 4, or 24.6%, of trans adults are on Medicaid. 

Something needs to be done to prevent this bill from becoming law, and I sincerely hope that this bill remains just that: A bill. However, I do not have a lot of hope that something will be done to stop this bill from becoming law. The right wing has a scary amount of control over the U.S. (and the world), and the so-called left wing (a.k.a. the democrats, who are really not left wing at all) haven't done much to protect trans people and prevent the U.S. from descending into fascism. They have been complicit in everything that has been happening.

NBC News Article: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna208618