Department of Veteran Affairs to offer gender reassignment surgeries for “transgender” veterans in effort to make the department “more welcoming.”
The secretary of Veterans Affairs, Dennis McDonough, announced the plans to offer the surgeries at a Pride event in Orlando, FL. It was also announced that the Veterans Health Administration will rename its LGBT health program to the LGBTQ+ program to “reflect new community standards of inclusiveness and anticipate future changes in terms.”
McDonough gave a speech at the event, saying: “[This is ] allowing transgender vets to go through the full gender confirmation process with VA by their side. We’re making these changes not only because they are the right thing to do, but because they can save lives.”
While the VA will provide an estimated 4,000 veterans with the surgery, the number of homeless veterans increased in 2020 to 37,252.
In December 2019, the veteran unemployment rate was 2.8%. By April 2020, unemployment was at 11.7%, making the number of unemployed veterans in 2020 581,000.
With these numbers in mind, it only makes sense to say that the VA’s priorities are just a little bit misplaced.
