The Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday against the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in which they are asking the VA to provide gender-affirming medical care to transgender veterans. Filed in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the lawsuit comes months after a demand letter was sent to the VA on Transgender Day of Remembrance in November 2023. In the letter, TAVA demanded that the VA grant or deny the order within 30 days to avoid suit. “Three years ago today, President Biden repealed the military’s ban on transgender service members. Yes, when we return from service, we do not receive the same level of healthcare from the VA that other veterans do,” said President of TAVA Rebekka Eshler in a press release. “The natural step toward transgender people’s true inclusion in the military is for the VA to remedy this gap. Transgender veterans have waited far too long for the VA to provide the gender-affirming surgery so many of us need to survive.”