An anti-trans measure in US president Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act has been dropped at the last minute in a small victory for the LGBTQ+ community. 

The legislation struck the ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care after the Senate parliamentarian found it did not comply with the Byrd Rule.

Named after Senator Robert Byrd, the Byrd Rule aims to prevent irrelevant matters from being included in budget reconciliation legislation

Republican’s passed the sweeping tax and spending bill via the process of budget reconciliation, meaning they avoided a Democratic filibuster, but had to relate to federal spending and the Parliamentarian, who determine if legislative language complies with the Byrd Rule. 

@pinknews

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a sweeping budget and spending package passed by Congress aimed at funding various government programs and addressing economic priorities. The original House version included provisions that threatened transgender healthcare access by banning Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming treatments such as hormone therapy and surgeries. It also proposed strict, biologically based definitions of “male” and “female,” which risked undermining legal recognition and protections for transgender people.These measures alarmed LGBTQ+ advocates who warned that such restrictions would significantly harm the community’s healthcare and civil rights.  However, after Senate revisions, these anti-trans provisions were removed from the final bill. Medicaid continues to cover gender-affirming care, and the federal definitions of sex remain broader and more inclusive. As a result, the final legislation preserves crucial healthcare access and legal protections for LGBTQ+ and transgender individuals, avoiding the restrictive and harmful measures that were initially proposed in the House version. #trump #congress #bigbeautifulbill #trans #lgbtqia trangender

♬ Minimal for news / news suspense(1169746) – Hiraoka Kotaro

‘A huge relief’

Trans advocates have celebrated the removal of the ban on Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care, with Delphine Luneau, deputy director of communications for the Human Rights Campaign, telling Rolling Stone: “There’s a lot of other elements of the bill that are concerning, but for me and for other trans folks, it’s a huge relief to see this out of the bill.” 

The bill will now head back to the House, where members will vote on the Senate’s version, complete with the amendments. 

Sinead Murano-Kinney, health policy analyst for Advocates for Trans Equality, told the publication: “Fortunately, Republicans’ efforts to make trans people and their healthcare into political scapegoats failed. 

“This failure is in no small part thanks to the wisdom of the parliamentarian and the actions of Senators who respect and will fight for their trans constituents’ well-being and access to lifesaving care.”

However, despite the bill’s amendments, there are still aspects that will impact Americans overall, including the cutting of one year of federal funding for organisations that provide abortions, such as Planned Parenthood. 

It has been estimated that at least 17 million Americans would lose their healthcare coverage should this bill pass in the House and be signed into law. 

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful. 

The post Anti-trans provisions dropped from Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.