Veterans need benefits, health care, and support. They do not need their organization taking sides in America’s fiercest culture-war fights.
Democrat lawmakers recently demanded that the Department of Veterans Affairs restore dedicated LGBTQ+ veteran care coordinators and identity-based programs, placing the fight over gender policy at the VA back in the spotlight. The VA has instead redesignated those positions as “care coordinators” serving all veterans and restricted the use of VA resources to promote gender ideology.
As the VA moves away from identity-based programs, the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization has taken a different path. The VFW’s principles are broad enough to unite veterans across the political spectrum—abortion and gender ideology do not.
A veterans’ organization should support every veteran without endorsing specific political or ideological positions tied to a veteran’s identity. Yet this summer, the VFW again declared “Happy Pride Month” and celebrated veterans specifically on the basis of sexual orientation and “gender identity.”
The VFW has a long and distinguished history, tracing its roots to veterans of the Spanish-American War and helping shape the modern federal veterans system. However, in recent years, the organization has embraced positions on abortion and gender policy that extend far beyond its core mission.
The VFW claims it has honored LGBTQ+ veterans during Pride Month since President Bill Clinton’s first proclamation in 1999. In 2019, then-National Commander B.J. Lawrence supported additional VA resources for LGBTQ+ veterans in congressional testimony.
The shift is also evident on abortion policy. In 2020, the VFW argued that the VA should provide certain abortion-related care. In 2022, it testified in support of H.R. 345, legislation requiring the VA to provide information and counseling about abortion to veterans facing unwanted pregnancies.
On gender policy, the VFW has continued publishing Pride Month statements, a move that has become contentious. One VFW leader learned how divisive the issue had become after publicly criticizing Pride Month.
The organization’s advocacy warrants scrutiny because policy requests framed as “health care” can include deeply contested medical interventions. In past testimony, the VFW demanded expanded resources for transgender veterans. The debate over these treatments has intensified as critics highlight risks associated with puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and irreversible surgical interventions.
Detransitioners have also filed malpractice claims, including one case that resulted in a $3.5 million settlement. Regardless of broader policy debates, these developments make it harder to treat every disputed intervention as politically neutral veterans’ care.
The VFW’s advocacy now conflicts with federal policy direction. The VA has reinstated a ban on abortion and abortion counseling in its medical benefits package, while the Trump administration issued executive orders directing federal agencies and the military to recognize biological sex.
This does not mean the VFW should exclude gay or transgender veterans or deny their honorable service. It means the organization must distinguish between serving veterans and endorsing contested ideological programs in their name.
The VFW’s mission is to “advocate on behalf of all veterans,” with core values that include honoring military service, caring for veterans and families, and respecting “the diversity of veteran opinions.” These principles are broad enough to unite veterans across the political spectrum—abortion and gender ideology do not.
When the VFW takes sides in some of the country’s most divisive moral and political disputes, it risks alienating the very veterans it is supposed to represent.
The better course is simpler: Fight for veterans’ benefits, health, dignity, and families. Leave woke social causes to organizations created to address those battles.
Veterans need a VFW that puts veterans first.
