‘We Draw the Line’: HRC Foundation Sues Trump Admin’s Gender-Affirming Care Ban for Federal Employees

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has sued the Trump administration after it banned health insurance coverage for gender-affirming care for federal employees and their families under the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) and Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) plans.

Along with the law firm Correia and Puth, the organization, which is the nonprofit arm of the Human Rights Campaign, filed a class action lawsuit against the administration’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM), according to an announcement on Monday.

OPM’s mandate, implemented this year, places obstacles for these employees and their families from accessing gender-affirming care, HRCF claims. The policy came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term, which sought to erase trans identities in the federal government.

“Federal employees have been through the wringer with the Trump administration. We draw the line at blatant discrimination to deny healthcare to our nation’s dedicated civil servants,” said Cathy Harris, Partner at Correia and Puth.

The agency announced in August of last year that it would no longer cover “chemical and surgical modification of an individual’s sex traits through medical interventions,” language the administration uses to describe gender transition-related care. The change applies regardless of age, though OPM said exceptions could be made on a case-by-case basis for people already in the middle of treatment.

Most major medical associations in the U.S. support gender-affirming care.

“This categorical denial of treatment for those who require continuing gender-affirming care is akin to denying continuing insulin treatment for someone with diabetes,” the lawsuit states.

The suit argues that the prohibition violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlaws workplaces from discriminating against people due to race, religion, or sex.

OPM’s policy exclusion will impact the health care of at least 39,400 current and former federal employees and their dependents, according to a July study from the Williams Institute.

“Our message to the Trump administration is simple: We’ll see you in court,” said Human Rights Campaign Foundation President Kelley Robinson. “Healthcare access should never be weaponized to advance discrimination — and the denial of coverage for critical healthcare based simply on who you are blatantly violates the rights of all of us. This odious policy is the latest example of the Trump administration’s obsession with targeting transgender people, using shameful and cruel tactics to threaten their employment, their health and the well-being of themselves and their families. The OPM’s actions will not go unchallenged, and we’ll continue to fight so that federal employees and their families receive the dignity that they deserve.”