‘DARK HISTORY’

VA Will Offer Gender-Confirmation Surgery to Trans Vets

The agency declared in 2013 that it would not perform the operations.

In 2013, the Department of Veterans Affairs declared that it does not provide gender-reassignment surgery to veterans. But VA Secretary Denis McDonough announced this weekend that the agency is moving to reverse that policy—part of what he called a “dark history” of discrimination against trans people, The Washington Post reported. There are an estimated 134,000 trans veterans, though the VA believes only a few thousand would seek the operation. It could take up to two years for the VA to be ready to actually perform the surgeries, the Post said. “We’re making these changes not only because they are the right thing to do but because they can save lives,” McDonough said