Dexter Demands Trump Protect Trans Veterans, While Trump Attack Trans Service Members

WASHINGTON, D.C — Yesterday, at a joint Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing focused on Veterans Service Organizations, Congresswoman Maxine Dexter, M.D. (OR-03), slammed President Trump’s reckless effort to gut mental health resources for veterans, particularly for transgender veterans. This comes as Trump is engaging in an all-out assault on our LGBTQIA+ service members and veterans, as evidenced most recently by his order to discharge transgender service members.  

“A person’s gender identity has nothing to do with their ability to serve our country or receive the benefits they have earned,” said Dexter. “We need leadership that invests in veterans’ care—not one that guts the very programs meant to save lives.”  

“Our community is under attack. Minority veterans — those who are Black, Indigenous, veterans of color, women, LGBTQIA+, religious minorities, immigrants, and disabled — are being told through policy and practice that our service, our sacrifices, and our lives do not matter. Critical healthcare is being gutted — gender-affirming care, reproductive services, and mental health support are being dismantled under the guise of “government efficiency.” And let’s not pretend this is about efficiency — this is about erasure,” said Lindsay Church, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Minority Veterans of America. 

In Oregon alone, more than 1,300 veterans call the National 988 Suicide and Crisis Line each month. Veterans face a 57% higher risk of suicide than civilians, and the risk is even greater for veterans who are racial, gender, and sexual minorities. 

Watch Dexter and Lindsay Church’s full exchange at yesterday’s hearing here.