VA bans doctors from referring trans veterans to private gender-affirming care

[Jessica_Rose]

VA bans doctors from referring trans veterans to private gender-affirming care providers

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/10/va-bans-doctors-from-referring-trans-veterans-to-private-gender-affirming-care-providers/ 🔗

Faefyx Collington (1 Oct 2025)

Doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have been instructed to stop providing forms and support letters that refer veterans to private medical providers for gender-affirming care.

Veterans were already unable to receive gender-affirming surgeries through the VA, and as such, VA doctors have referred trans patients to private practices for over a decade.

"There's no rationale that I could point to other than it's just simply an attack on transgender people for the sake of attacking," one anonymous VA doctor told The Advocate. "Why else? Because it's not costing you anything. It's just getting in the way of their care."

"There is no financial reason," the doctor added. "There is no medical reason. It's ideology, not medicine." They also underscored that the letters they're now forbidden from writing are an extremely minor task to complete. "It doesn't require much extra time to write a simple letter. It's not hard. It's not costly. But now it's prohibited."

The VA officially stopped offering gender-affirming surgeries in 2013. In 2021, the Biden administration promised to change that, but despite lawsuits, it never came to pass. The current president then abandoned the effort when he took office in 2025.

This move ties in with the VA's larger plans to phase out all forms of gender-affirming care for veterans. Plans to do so were finalized in July in response to the "two sexes" executive order. The new policies deny all gender-affirming care, including hormone treatments, to anyone who was not already receiving the treatment prior to the announcement.

[Robbyv213]

I'm just dumbfounded on how much worse things get in just a day. And this is every day ....


Like how is this even happening... We can't seem to fight it legally, just gets tied up in slow moving courts. We can't or aren't making enough waves peacefully, our own senators and Congressmen are playing chess with each other while we the people they're supposed to be representing all lose.


At what point I say again will be enough. The only way I see things changing in a peaceful manner is to have an emergency vote by the people to vote in new Congressmen and senators to replace all current sitting Congressmen and senators. If they are representing their constituents well they will get re-elected, if not then they no longer have a job, and we will see how quickly things change.

[Lori Dee]

I have been blessed in that I started my hormone therapy in 2020. So my hormone treatment has been grandfathered in. However, as I discovered when visiting the Regional VA Endocrinology Center in Aurora, there are still providers who prefer not to deal with us. They do not understand transgender medicine, are unwilling to learn, and now are being prohibited from even trying.

However, the smaller clinics are more accepting and supportive. They understand our plight and find ways to help us anyway.

"It's not what you say, but how you say it."

My mental health providers are forbidden to mention in my records anything about gender-affirming care. So, some things do not get recorded. I am being treated for my PTSD. Nothing to see here.

I told my Primary about my experience with the Regional Center. Since I have fused vertebrae in my neck, driving in traffic for four hours round-trip is extremely painful. Therefore, my Primary has referred me to the local Endocrinology Clinic to "monitor" my hormone levels. This is not unusual, since my records state that I am a female, 68 years old, on hormone replacement therapy. Nothing more needs to be said within the confines of the VA health system. 😉

[Sarah B]

Hi Everyone

Lori once said the following:

I also asked about getting surgery recommendation letters. If government policy changes to disavow "gender ideology" then it would be important to get those letters now while we can. She disagreed with me. She said there is "ZERO CHANCE" of that happening. First, because (as we all know) the VA is extremely slow to change policies. Second, she said no law, regulation, or policy can prevent her from writing a letter. We will talk about it again later when it is closer to the time that I need to have one to send to a surgeon.

I then proceeded to say the following, "what I have highlighted in Red is absolutely and categorically TRUE.  First Amendment comes into play here."

Yes, I suppose the question that remains is, "if the doctor does provide those letters of referral, then they could be in trouble"?

However, they could write those letters in their own time!

Best Wishes Always
Sarah B
Global Moderator
@Lori Dee

[Lori Dee]

Hi Everyone

Lori once said the following:

I then proceeded to say the following, "what I have highlighted in Red is absolutely and categorically TRUE.  First Amendment comes into play here."

Yes, I suppose the question that remains is, "if the doctor does provide those letters of referral, then they could be in trouble"?

However, they could write those letters in their own time!

Best Wishes Always
Sarah B
Global Moderator
@Lori Dee

You are correct, because that is exactly what I was told by ALL of my VA healthcare providers. And yet, not one of them has bothered to pick up a pen.

The providers are in a very tough situation. Not only does the VA now forbid it, but they have also initiated internal policies to "rat on your coworker," so they must be extra cautious. Since they work for the VA and do not have their own private practice, they don't have their own letterhead to write the letters on. And they can't use VA (official government) stationery either.

They also hold medical licenses from their state, which could be put in jeopardy if they are considered to be doing something illegal or against the rules. It is a slippery slope they are on, so I don't hold them individually accountable. Like any employee, they follow the rules to keep their job.

The problem comes directly from Washington, D.C.