The NDAA Will Test Democrats on Transgender Kids’ Rights to Gender-Affirming Care

“I mean, I’m sure I’m gonna look at it and think, ‘Man, I voted against that. I wish it wasn’t in,’” Sen. Tim Kaine said. “But, you know, we need a defense bill.”

NDAA Rogers Smith

Bill text for the NDAA says “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization may not be provided to a child under the age of 18.” Tom Williams/AP

A single line targeting transgender youth in the proposed compromise defense budget will put Democrats’ records supporting the LGBTQ+ community to the test.

In what Speaker Mike Johnson called an “end [to] the radical woke ideology being imposed on our military,” the National Defense Authorization Act, which dropped Saturday night, includes a provision “permanently banning transgender medical treatment for minors,” he said in a statement.

“Medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization may not be provided to a child under the age of 18,” the bill text reads.