Fight the Attacks on Trans People: Oppose Three HHS Proposed Rules

Access to healthcare and other federally funded services, free from discrimination and coercion, is critical and can be lifesaving. Programs like education, employment, and healthcare should be equally accessible to everyone, including the almost three million trans Americans, many of whom are disabled.

On December 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed three rules that would harm transgender youth and adults:

• The first rule would allow recipients of HHS funding to discriminate against people with gender dysphoria on the basis of disability.
• The second rule would prevent the use of federal funds to pay for essential health care for trans youth covered by Medicaid or CHIP.
• The third rule would bar trans youth from receiving needed care from hospitals that receive Medicaid or Medicare dollars – essentially all U.S. hospitals.

The release of three anti-trans rulemakings on the same day is the latest assault in this administration’s coordinated campaign against the transgender community.

HHS is exploiting the regulatory process to advance a cruel and unlawful anti-trans agenda that this administration has sought to implement since Inauguration Day.

Transition-related care is essential care that allows transgender people, including youth, to thrive and live their fullest lives. The government has no place interfering with access to critical, life-saving healthcare.

The three rules have only been proposed and are not yet in effect. We still have an opportunity to object. DREDF urges its followers and the disability community to submit comments to oppose each rule.

It is particularly important for members of the disability community to submit comments opposing these rulemakings. HHS leadership has tried to divide our communities by stating, falsely, that protecting people with gender dysphoria from disability discrimination harms people with other disabilities. Working together to defend our rights, our lives, and our futures makes us stronger.

Comments on the first rule are due on January 20, 2026. Comments on the second and third rules on trans youth are due on February 17, 2026.

Watch our Informational Briefing

Submit a Comment for the First Proposed Rule – Submit by January 20, 2026

Submit comments opposing the rule that would allow recipients of HHS funding to discriminate against people with gender dysphoria on the basis of disability by January 20, 2026. Here’s how:

Introduce yourself. Introduce yourself and state your connection to disability rights and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. You can include things like your profession or personal experiences.

State your position. State that you oppose the proposed rule and do not want people who have a disability based on gender dysphoria to be excluded from Section 504’s protections.

Explain why you care. This is your chance to explain why you oppose the proposed rule. Please use your own words. Unique comments are important. You might want to make some of these points:

• If this proposed rule goes into effect, it could have far-reaching harms for people with gender dysphoria. People with gender dysphoria could be turned away from basic health and human services or face mistreatment when accessing these programs.
• The proposed rule would exacerbate barriers that people with gender dysphoria already face in accessing health and human services.
• The administration expressed anti-trans bias in releasing the proposed rule. Bigotry is not a lawful basis for rulemaking.
• The definition of disability in Section 504 should be construed broadly, as Congress has made clear. The Administration should not try to exclude people from civil rights protections based on a particular diagnosis, such as gender dysphoria.
• HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is wrong: Including people with gender dysphoria under the protections of Section 504 does not harm people with other disabilities. People with all different kinds of disabilities are stronger when we work together and resist efforts to divide us.
• This Administration has taken many actions to harm transgender youth and adults, including the three proposed rules published on December 18, 2025. Wanting to harm a particular group is not a lawful basis for Section 504–or any–rulemaking.
• Section 504 should be interpreted in a way that is fair and constitutional. Bias and prejudice are not legitimate reasons for excluding people with disabilities from civil rights protections.
• Congress did not exclude people with gender dysphoria from federal laws prohibiting disability discrimination. In Williams v. Kincaid, the Fourth Circuit considered the question carefully and ruled that people with gender dysphoria can be covered. This is the only appellate court ruling on the issue.

State that the comment period should be extended. State that the 30-day comment period is too short, given:

• The 30-day comment period is short. The other rules released had 60 days.
• The 30 days for these comments overlapped with the holiday and end of year break.
• The Regulations.gov portal for this rulemaking was incorrectly closed during several of the 30 days. Advocates, including DREDF, reached out to ask that it be fixed.
• This is an important issue, and stakeholders should have enough time to comment.
• The comment period should be extended for another 30 days.

Conclude. Summarize your main points and restate your opposition to the proposed rules.

• Via Mail. Your comment must be postmarked by January 20, 2026, and addressed to:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office for Civil Rights
Attention: Disability NPRM, RIN 0945-AA27
Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Room 509F
200 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20201

• Via the Federal Register web portal. Go to this Regulations.gov link and enter your comment.
  • If you have accessibility issues with the web portal, you can contact John Thompson, Office for Civil Rights, Department of Health and Human Services by phone at (202) 545-4884 or (800) 537-7697 (TDD), or by email at 504@hhs.gov.
  • Enter (paste or type) your comment in the comment field if it fits. To fit, your comment must be less than 5,000 characters (or about 800 to 1000 words). You can also attach your comment as a document, like a Word or PDF file.
  • Enter your email address if you choose to provide it. You can also select the checkbox to opt to receive email confirmation of your submission and a tracking number, but it is not required.
  • Select whether you are an Individual or an Organization, or whether you want to be anonymous. Note that all comments are made available to the public, even if you select “Anonymous.”
  • Select the box that says, “I am not a robot.”
  • Review your comment and select the blue “Submit Comment” button.

Submit a Comment for the Second and Third Proposed Rules – Submit by February 17, 2026

Submit comments opposing the two rules that would limit access to gender-affirming care for trans youth by February 17, 2026.

Here are a few ways to do this:

• The Center for American Progress has a toolkit. Follow the instructions on how to submit comments and what you might want to include in your comments.
• You can also submit comments using this portal, provided by the Human Rights Campaign.
• If you don’t have time to submit a comment of your own, you can sign this petition by the ACLU to oppose the rules.