Recent bills passed by the House of Representatives aim to fund military-related agencies which impede on LGBTQ+ rights such as gender-affirming care, anti-discrimination policies, and Pride flags. The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2025 (“MilCon”) is a $147.5 billion bill which funds military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Primarily along party lines, the bill passed June 5.
“Once again, Republicans are attacking the transgender and broader LGBTQI+ community with riders that both harm our LGBTQI+ veterans and undermine our military readiness by discouraging LGBTQI+ people from enlisting,” says Mark Pocan, Wisconsin’s democrat member of the House of Representatives. “We strongly condemn this bill and its cruel attacks that target those who have served our nation in uniform. Our members remain committed to defending the LGBTQI+ community throughout the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations process and beyond.”
“MilCon” includes several anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortions riders. The anti-LGBTQ+ aim to ban several agencies including the VA that receive funding under the bill from covering gender-affirming care for veterans and employees. Another rider bans the VA from flying Pride flags, and a third revokes three of Biden’s executive orders which support diversity in the workplace. A fourth rider allows religious government contractors to discriminate against LGBTQ+ folks if it aligned with their religion. The anti-abortion rider defunds VA abortions care even in the cases of rape, incest, or other dangerous situations.
The bill is one of the multiple, large, and annual appropriations the Congress must pass to fund the federal government. Although most of these bills passed without any anti-LGBTQ+ measures, House Republicans have taken advantage of these bills over the last year to attack LGBTQ+ advocates. Biden has even threatened to veto the “MilCon” bill, recognizing its targeting of LGBTQ+ folks. The bill must be passed by September to sustain the VA and other agencies’ funding.
Recently, we have seen House Republicans ignore pressing issues and wasting their time with partisan bills which would impact law enforcement, education, housing, healthcare, safety, climate, essential nutrition services, and the LGBTQ+ community. The needed care of women and minority communities are being disregarded and replaced with cruel, discriminatory, and unnecessary efforts. There is an apparent regression and lack of imperative vision in the current political landscape, and hopefully things will take a turn for the better as the year progresses.
