Kramer Levin Files Amicus Brief on Behalf of Former Generals, Admirals and Surgeons General in Support of Transgender Veterans

On August 5, 2024, Kramer Levin filed an amicus brief on behalf of nine former generals, admirals, and surgeons general urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to repeal regulations that exclude gender-confirmation surgery from VA healthcare.

The brief was filed in Transgender American Veterans Association v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

In 2016, the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) petitioned the VA to repeal regulations that deny gender-confirmation surgery to veterans even when VA physicians deem that surgery medically necessary. Despite acknowledging the importance of providing that care to transgender veterans, the VA failed to act on the petition for eight years before denying it in the face of a mandamus action commenced by TAVA earlier this year. Kramer Levin filed a brief in support of that petition as well. 

Kramer Levin’s amicus brief in support of the new action highlights the importance of providing healthcare benefits equally to transgender veterans. Speaking on behalf of military and medical leaders who have served at the very highest levels, and drawing on their experience as well as research sources, the brief explains that denying transgender veterans gender-confirmation surgery undermines commitments the government makes to service members at the time of enlistment and weakens military recruitment and retention. The brief further argues that discriminating against transgender veterans by denying them this essential care violates the military’s and VA’s core values.

Signatories to the brief include Vice Admiral Donald Arthur, former Navy Surgeon General; Brigadier General Rose Loper, former Deputy Commanding General of 70th Regional Support Command, U.S. Army Reserve; Major General Gale Pollock, former Army Acting Surgeon General; Major General Patrica A. Rose, former United States Air Force two-star general; and Rear Admiral Alan Steinman, former Coast Guard Director of Health and Safety.

Kramer Levin has played a leading role in pro bono LGBTQ rights litigation for more than two decades. The firm has submitted high-profile amicus briefs in most every major Supreme Court LGBTQ rights case since the 1990s, from trailblazing cases like Dale v. Boy Scouts and Lawrence v. Texas to the landmark Windsor, Perry, and Obergefell marriage equality cases, to important recent cases like Masterpiece Cakeshop, Bostock, and 303 Creative. The firm also served as co-counsel in Hernandez v. Robles, a landmark case that sought equal marriage rights under the New York Constitution and helped raise awareness of the issue, culminating in the legislature updating New York law to provide marriage equality.

Read the brief here.

Summer Associate Giulia Pines assisted with research for this brief.