IGF CultureWatch

Efforts to eliminate taxpayer spending for sex-trait modification procedures (or “gender-affirming care” in progressive-speak) have put funding at risk for gay and lesbian healthcare – including AIDS prevention. That’s because gay/lesbian and trans services now fall together under the rubric of “LGBTQ+ healthcare.”

On June 24, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in Nashville laid off five staff members from its LGBTQ Health program. The cuts were linked to the Trump administration’s moves to stop universities and hospitals from using federal funds for sex-trait modification services and to curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that favor some identity groups over others.

Campus Reform reports that the university’s “Trans Buddy Program”:

… aimed to embed gender ideology in health care by assigning volunteers to advocate for transgender-identifying patients during medical visits, free of charge. … On the description page for VUMC’s “Program for LGBTQ Health,” the institution describes it as “an innovative effort to improve healthcare for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) adults.”

In another recent development, Congress’s July rescissions package to reduce government spending initially included cuts to PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, an initiative George W. Bush launched in 2003 to combat AIDS around the world. In this instance, the program drew opposition for being foreign aid and well as LGBTQ+ focused. After lobbying by the Log Cabin Republicans and others, the administration agreed to exempt the PEPFAR cuts from the recissions bill.

The fact that advocates for “gender-affirming care” label sex-transitioning services “LGBTQ+ healthcare” puts a target on funding for traditional healthcare for gays and lesbians—one more way in which, under LGBTQ+, gays and lesbians have become collateral damage.