‘He Is Working to Erase Us’: A Trans Activist on the Real Reason Trump’s Budget Bans Trans Care

As state and federal attacks on transgender rights escalate, a new wave of legislation is threatening access to lifesaving healthcare for trans people across the country. One of the most alarming efforts is now moving through Congress.

In a powerful new piece for Rolling Stone, Ash Lazarus Orr of Advocates for Trans Equality — a proud member of Alliance for Justice—exposes how the House-passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” takes aim at trans Americans by banning Medicaid and CHIP coverage for gender-affirming care. With millions of lives and rights on the line, Orr unpacks what this bill really means as it heads to the Senate.

In Orr’s words, “Stripping away health care for anybody is un-American. Denying trans people access to medically necessary care goes against the most basic values that this country was founded on: freedom, dignity, and the right to pursue life and liberty. Health care is a human right for everyone — including trans people.”

Ash Lazarus Orr (he/they) has served as the press relations manager at Advocates for Trans Equality for two and a half years. He has been an organizer in West Virginia for over a decade, focusing on the intersectionalities of gender-affirming care and abortion access. They’re also an abortion storyteller for We Testify and Planned Parenthood.