Veterans Affairs is delaying plans to offer gender-reassignment surgeries for transgender veterans as the department further researches it, the department said in response to a lawsuit from transgender veterans. 

The department’s health benefits include covering many transgender services, such as hormone therapy and voice training, but it does not fund “gender confirming surgery.”

The VA secretary, Denis McDonough, announced at an Orlando Pride event in 2021 that the department would start the long process of changing its policies to allow for surgeries, adding that it had been “deserved for a long time.” The agency’s internal estimates at the time said that fewer than 4,000 veterans would be interested in the surgeries. 

Although it was noted at the time of announcement that the process could take years, frustration has mounted from transgender advocates at the delays. 

The Transgender American Veterans Association — which had filed a petition in 2016 asking the department to expand its benefits to cover the surgeries — filed a lawsuit last month asking a federal judge to force a timely response from the VA.

In response to the lawsuit, the VA is now saying it will take time to analyze how the PACT Act would affect the transgender procedures, adding that the department has not decided “how and when it might ultimately provide gender affirming surgery,” the Military Times reported. 

The PACT Act, passed in 2022,  expands VA health benefits to veterans exposed to toxic substances, and the department says it will start providing the expanded care to millions starting in March. 

Mr. McDonough said while the department spends more time analyzing the surgeries in relation to the PACT Act, it will provide all other types of care to transgender veterans, Military.com reported.

“To all LGBTQ+ veterans and to all veterans, I just want to be 100 percent clear that VA is 100 percent committed to providing you world-class care and a safe, welcoming and discrimination-free environment,” he said.

In a statement on Monday, the Transgender American Veterans Association accused the VA of breaking its promises, Military.com noted. 

“Secretary McDonough has broken his promise to transgender veterans to provide life-saving, doctor-prescribed, transition-related surgical care and denied our petition to initiate the rulemaking process that has been ostensibly in the works behind the scenes for the last three years,” the group said, promising that the “fight is not over.”