The Human Rights Campaign Foundation Stands Up for Federal Workers During Trump’s Attack on Trans Healthcare
Winter 2026 • Aneesha Pappy She/Her
Everyone deserves the freedom to access the healthcare that they and their families need. But from its first day back in office this year, the Trump Administration has targeted the rights and well-being of transgender people and their families by stripping away their insurance coverage. So, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation is taking on the Trump administration over their recent attack on transgender healthcare targeting an untold number of federal workers and their families.
The legal challenge follows the issuance of a Carrier Letter by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management mandating that participating insurance providers in the Federal Employee Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits programs — which cover millions of employees and dependents — deny coverage for gender-affirming care for all ages starting at the beginning of 2026. As a result, transgender federal employees and employees with transgender spouses, children and dependents now face heightened barriers to receiving critical care, placing it out of reach for many people solely because of who they are.
Let’s be clear: Healthcare for transgender people is medically necessary care that is supported by major medical and mental health organizations as best-practice medicine — including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association. People live fuller, happier lives when they get the care they need.
That’s why we’re proudly standing with impacted Americans and pushing back against this discriminatory policy, sending the clear message that attacks by the administration on our fundamental freedoms will not go unchallenged.
Our federal workers deserve better than to be targeted by this cruel and shameless administration hell-bent on attacking the transgender community to advance their hateful agenda. Transgender federal employees and federal employees with transgender dependents are not pawns in a political game; they are public servants who should not have to make the painful decision to go back into the closet or leave their jobs to access the healthcare they need. This is textbook discrimination — plain and simple — and we will not stand by and let this administration strip away critical rights without a fight. We will continue to litigate against this policy until our federal employees receive the dignity and respect they deserve.
Case Details:
On Jan. 1, 2026, the same day the OPM directive went into effect, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation initiated the legal challenge against the OPM on behalf of federal employees and their families. The matter was filed on a class basis, bringing together plaintiffs who would be impacted by the loss of coverage to push back against OPM’s policy. The filing asserts that excluding coverage for gender-affirming healthcare in the FEHB and PSHB programs is in violation of Title VII. The claims are based on Title VII’s protections against discrimination based on sex, which apply to the terms, conditions and privileges of employment.
In early February, we took the next step in this process against the Trump administration, moving the matter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC now has 180 days to resolve the complaint. If the matter remains unresolved, it may head to federal court.
Attempts by the Trump Administration to rip healthcare from federal workers and their families comes amid a total onslaught against health care for LGBTQ+ people around the country. According to HRC’s recently released One Year In Report, informed by HRC’s Community Survey Data and findings from HRC’s “American Dreams” tour, the administration has taken aim at critical healthcare support for LGBTQ+ people in ways that are devastating the community and disproportionately impacting transgender people.
The report found that two-thirds of transgender and non-binary adults experience difficulty accessing healthcare due to the policy conditions of the Trump administration. Transgender people are being denied care, turned away from emergency rooms, forced to choose between their safety and their health or giving up altogether — opting out of insurance they cannot afford and avoiding doctors who have made clear they are not welcome. Simply put: LGBTQ+ people are suffering at the hands of this administration’s obsession with tearing care from us.
Healthcare access is not a theoretical policy debate. Cutting off care has real consequences for real people. It means a child going without the prescription they have come to rely on. It means a worker having to choose paying out of pocket for a visit to the doctor, even when that means they might not be able to pay their rent on time. It means families having to choose between getting the care they need and putting food on the table.
Healthcare decisions should be left between people and their providers — not politicians.
The Trump administration’s attacks on care for federal workers and their families are part of their larger assault on healthcare access for transgender people and the broader LGBTQ+ community. And they send a message that this administration thinks they know better than we do what care we need for our families. But we will not sit idly by and watch our medical freedom ripped away. The HRC Foundation’s litigation team aims to fight back against these attempts to undermine crucial rights and preserve healthcare equality for all.
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