House Democrats finally fight back against anti-LGBTQ+ GOP military bill

Out gay Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and 154 other Democratic House members have signed a letter to the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services demanding that House Republicans remove anti-LGBTQ+ amendments from the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a bill that funds the U.S. military.

Democrats have criticized Republicans for putting anti-LGBTQ+ amendments in the $886 billion NDAA to excite their right-wing voter base before an election year. The Republican amendments would defund gender-affirming healthcare for service members and their families, ban drag shows and the flying of Pride flags on military installations, and block the Department of Defense’s (DOD) educational arm from purchasing any books on “gender ideology” (that is, gender identity and transgender issues).

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“These sections of the House-passed NDAA were constructed to score political points rather than support and invest in our most important operational advantage: our service members,” the letter states. “If service members are concerned for their health care, their right to exist, or the well-being of their children and loved ones, they cannot focus on their jobs, thereby weakening military readiness and retention rates.”

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“Ensuring our ranks reflect the diversity of the American people is essential to the morale and cohesion of our Armed Forces and to our national security,” the letter continues. “We strongly urge you to remove these harmful sections from the NDAA during conference negotiations.”

House Republicans already passed their version of the NDAA in July and, that same month, Senate Democrats also passed an alternate version of the NDAA that didn’t contain the anti-LGBTQ+ amendments. The two bills must match one another and be voted by a congressional majority before heading to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

Among the Republican NDAA amendments is one that would block TRICARE – the health care program for active duty military personnel, their families, and the National Guard – from paying for gender-affirming care, even though it is the standard of care for transgender people and all major medical organizations support it.

Another amendment would block the Department of Defense’s (DOD) educational arm from purchasing any book that has “pornographic materials” or “espouses radical gender ideology.” Other amendments would eliminate all DOD offices and positions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion; prevent military academies from using “affirmative action policies” to promote racial diversity; prevent DOD schools from teaching that the U.S. and its founding documents are racist; and prevent the military from following President Joe Biden’s executive orders to help fight climate change.

The anti-LGBTQ+ amendments in the NDAA represent just a fraction of the anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion amendments that Republicans have inserted into 12 various appropriation bills that effectively fund the entire U.S. government.

The House’s most conservative and anti-LGBTQ+ Republicans, namely those in the so-called “Freedom Caucus,” are threatening to shut down the government by September 30 if their demands aren’t met within these bills, Vox reported. These demands include impeaching President Joe Biden, reducing military aid to Ukraine, and funding increased anti-immigration measures at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Republicans hold a slim House majority, meaning that McCarthy must get his party’s moderates and extremists to support a final government funding bill by the end of the month or risk a government shutdown that voters may blame Republicans for. If McCarthy tries to create a bill that can pass with Republican and Democrat support while excluding the Freedom Caucus, the caucus’ members may attempt to oust him from the speakership.