WASHINGTON, D.C. — Equality California released the following statement from Executive Director Tony Hoang in response to the House passing a reconciliation bill in the dead of night that will remove healthcare for millions and deny medical care to transgender Americans:
“At the direction of Donald Trump, House Republicans have voted against the health and well-being of tens of millions of Americans, especially transgender people — gutting healthcare and food access, all to fund massive tax cuts for the wealthy. The cruelty of anti-LGBTQ+ extremists in the House was on full display in the early hours of the morning as they inserted new language into the budget bill targeting the healthcare of transgender Americans. The new language would ban the use of federal funding for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to support transgender healthcare for all ages, expanding on previous efforts to deny care for youth, and remove transgender healthcare from the list of essential health benefits under the Affordable Care Act — allowing states and insurers to exclude this care from coverage. This unprecedented federal overreach threatens to deny transgender people access to life-saving, medically necessary care. In California, the impacts of this bill will be catastrophic. Nearly one in three Californians — including children, seniors, and low-income families — rely on Medi-Cal for healthcare, and over 5 million depend on CalFresh to afford food. We’re especially disappointed in the following California Republicans who voted for this shameful bill — turning their backs on the very constituents they were elected to serve: Doug LaMalfa (CA-1) Kevin Kiley (CA-3) Tom McClintock (CA-5) Vince Fong (CA-20) David Valadao (CA-22) Jay Obernolte (CA-23) Young Kim (CA-40) Ken Calvert (CA-41) Darrell Issa (CA-48) These representatives voted to leave many of their constituents less healthy and more hungry — all because Donald Trump told them to. In doing so, they turned their backs on their constituents’ health, safety, and dignity. They chose to make millions of Americans sicker and hungrier — including children, seniors, low-income families, and transgender people — to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. This was never about reducing the deficit or cutting costs — it’s about erasing transgender people from public life and denying them the right to exist safely. We call on the Senate to reject this heartless and damaging bill package and send a clear message that healthcare is a human right, not a political bargaining chip. California must continue to lead with values rooted in equity and justice — and Equality California won’t stop fighting until every person, especially our transgender siblings, has access to the care they need and deserve.”
“At the direction of Donald Trump, House Republicans have voted against the health and well-being of tens of millions of Americans, especially transgender people — gutting healthcare and food access, all to fund massive tax cuts for the wealthy.
The cruelty of anti-LGBTQ+ extremists in the House was on full display in the early hours of the morning as they inserted new language into the budget bill targeting the healthcare of transgender Americans. The new language would ban the use of federal funding for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to support transgender healthcare for all ages, expanding on previous efforts to deny care for youth, and remove transgender healthcare from the list of essential health benefits under the Affordable Care Act — allowing states and insurers to exclude this care from coverage. This unprecedented federal overreach threatens to deny transgender people access to life-saving, medically necessary care.
In California, the impacts of this bill will be catastrophic. Nearly one in three Californians — including children, seniors, and low-income families — rely on Medi-Cal for healthcare, and over 5 million depend on CalFresh to afford food.
We’re especially disappointed in the following California Republicans who voted for this shameful bill — turning their backs on the very constituents they were elected to serve:
These representatives voted to leave many of their constituents less healthy and more hungry — all because Donald Trump told them to. In doing so, they turned their backs on their constituents’ health, safety, and dignity. They chose to make millions of Americans sicker and hungrier — including children, seniors, low-income families, and transgender people — to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.
This was never about reducing the deficit or cutting costs — it’s about erasing transgender people from public life and denying them the right to exist safely.
We call on the Senate to reject this heartless and damaging bill package and send a clear message that healthcare is a human right, not a political bargaining chip. California must continue to lead with values rooted in equity and justice — and Equality California won’t stop fighting until every person, especially our transgender siblings, has access to the care they need and deserve.”
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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org
