The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs plans to expand their LGBTQ services to offer gender-affirming surgeries to transgender veterans.
U.S. VA Secretary Denis McDonough delivered the news at a Pride event in Orlando Saturday, giving praise to the work done by the Orlando VA Medical Center, and noting the Pulse NightClub shooting that devastated Orlando 5 years ago this month.
The VA will modify rules in their Code of Federal Regulations to provide transgender and gender diverse veterans with transition-related surgical procedures.
The Department said it will take about two years to develop the framework and implement the new policy to include the surgeries. It’s unknown how many veterans want gender-affirming surgeries, but the VA estimates fewer than 4,000 will be interested.
The announcement comes in the midst of Pride month.
