CEC Condemns Passage of Anti-LGBTQI+ FY26 Defense Appropriations Bill

"Republicans in Congress are once again attacking the Americans who serve our nation and their families with a series of discriminatory measures in the Fiscal Year 2026 Department of Defense Appropriations bill," said Rep. Mark Takano, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. "The riders in this bill don’t make life better for a single servicemember or their families, and instead double down on Trump’s anti-LGBTQI+ attacks. Trump is already kicking transgender people out of the military and now Republicans are using this bill to ensure that even if this ban is overturned by the courts that these servicemembers won’t be able to access the healthcare they need. The GOP’s bill also creates a license for federal employees and contractors to discriminate against LGBTQI+ servicemembers and their families and censors LGBTQI+ culture. The Congressional Equality Caucus strongly condemns this bill and remains committed to preventing these anti-LGBTQI+ riders from becoming law.”


BACKGROUND
H.R. 4016 the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026, contains four anti-LGBTQI+ riders. An amendment targeting HIV funding was rejected on the House floor.

Sec. 8138 and Sec. 8145: Bans on Medically Necessary Care for Transgender People
Section 8138 prohibits funds from being used to provide “Gender transition procedures” to a servicemembers’ child enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP), or to provide a referral for such care. The rider would further prohibit funds from being used to reassign servicemembers to a different duty station via EFMP in order to provide their dependents with this care.

Section 8145 prohibits funds made available by the bill from being used “for surgical procedures or hormone therapies for the purposes of gender affirming care.” While the Trump Administration is already kicking transgender servicemembers out of the military because of who they are, this provision would ensure that even if the ban is overturned by the courts that these servicemembers won’t be able to access the healthcare they need.

Sec. 8139: License to Discriminate Provision
This section creates a license for people and organizations—including those receiving taxpayer funds—to discriminate against LGBTQI+ people under the guise of religious liberty, and they prevent the federal government from adequately responding (e.g., by reducing or terminating federal grants or contracts or terminating an employee).

For example:

• A benefits specialist could not be terminated from employment for refusing to file paperwork for spousal benefits for a servicemember who is newly married to someone of the same sex.
• If a subcontractor turns away same-sex spouses of servicemembers at the gym on base, the service could not request the contractor use an alternate subcontractor in the future.

Sec. 8144: Drag Show Ban
This section prohibits funds appropriated by the Act from being used to support events “that violate the Department of Defense Joint Ethics Regulation or bring discredit upon the military, such as a drag queen story hour for children or the use of drag queens as military recruiters.”

Greene Amendment #113: Defunding HIV Prevention (REJECTED)
Title VI of H.R. 4016 provides that not less than $15,000,000 under the Defense Health Program heading for research, development, test and evaluation will be “for HIV prevention educational activities undertaken in connection with United States military training, exercises, and humanitarian assistance activities conducted primarily in African nations.” Greene Amendment #113 would have cut all of this funding.

This amendment was rejected by a vote of 104-326