Democrat Pramila Jayapal, Mother of a Trans Child, Calls Out Pete Hegseth’s Testosterone Double Standard
The progressive lawmaker noted that a new policy to provide testosterone therapy to soldiers is gender-affirming care — the same care the Trump administration has sought to ban for trans people.
Pete Hegseth, the anti-LGBTQ+ Secretary of Defense, announced on Wednesday that all service members 30 and older, including women, will be screened for their testosterone.
For those found to have any testosterone deficiency, the U.S. government will provide voluntary hormone treatment in the form of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).
“Our most decisive tactical advantage will always be the individual warfighter,” Hegseth said in a video. “We have a sacred duty to maintain that advantage.”
He said the aim was to create a “High-T Department of War,” using the name of the Defense Department that Hegseth and President Donald Trump prefer. Cis men’s testosterone levels decrease with age. Under Trump, it’s become easier to be prescribed TRT, and it’s been used by manosphere creators to gain more muscle.
The announcement received swift criticism from Democrats as well as LGBTQ+ rights groups, who have said that testosterone therapy is gender-affirming care. That is the same care Hegseth and other Trump administration officials have tried to prevent trans people from receiving.
Related: Watch Rep. Sara Jacobs’ Spectacular Exposure Of Pete Hegseth’s Trans Hypocrisy
In a hearing yesterday, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington state Democrat and mother of a transgender daughter, called out Hegseth and said the testing was “absurd.”
“The Secretary of ‘Forever Wars’ Pete Hegseth said that they are going to provide hormone therapy for male service members who don’t have enough testosterone. This, by the way, is gender-affirming care,” she said.
Jayapal, who has been a vocal supporter for trans rights in Congress, warned that this intrusion could eventually also affect members of Congress.
“And by the way, male members of this committee, watch what you vote for. Do you really want the government getting into your business, taking your testosterone levels, and determining whether or not you have enough testosterone? Are you male enough to be in Congress — that is the question,” she said.
The lawmaker then pointed out the real difficulties faced by trans youth in the country against this newfound appreciation for a certain type of gender-affirming care.
“In the past year, 40% of transgender and non-binary young people seriously considered attempting suicide. Instead of shaming and targeting them for seeking the care they need, as Republicans constantly do, let us provide support to them,” Jayapal said.
The news also comes in light of the Trump administration’s ban on trans people from the military. In early 2025, Hegseth also issued a Defense Department memo stopping “all unscheduled, scheduled, or planned medical procedures associated with affirming or facilitating a gender transition” for military service members.
The new screenings may put a wrench in the administration’s argument for banning trans troops in the military. Officials have argued that trans service members would not be able to get hormone therapy in certain combat situations, which would also be the case for cis men taking the testosterone that Hegseth is proposing.
“Mr. Hegseth’s recommendation that male service members take testosterone makes crystal clear that the policy banning transgender troops for taking the same medication is pure bias,” Shannon Minter, the legal director for the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, told the New York Times. “This is a blatant double standard and underscores the irrationality of the ban.”
The New York Times also points out that this isn’t the first time Hegseth has gotten “involved in the minutiae of service members’ lives, such as mandating new grooming standards for troops who, because of skin conditions, had previously been permitted to grow beards.”
The paper also noted that most defense secretaries focus on “larger strategic questions, involving alliances, war and weapons production,” so they don’t seem to be known for focusing on hormone levels or facial hair.
Hegseth has repeatedly denied the promotion of women and people of color in the military.
