Pentagon hands out record number of erectile dysfunction pills amid gender-affirming care ban
The Pentagon (Getty Images)
The US military prescribed a record-breaking number of erectile dysfunction drugs to active-duty troops in 2025, despite upholding a ban on gender-affirming care for trans service members.
Newly released data from the Pentagon, obtained by the New York Post through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows 108,332 prescriptions for erectile dysfunction were dispensed to active military personnel last year.
More were provided to the wider military community, which includes dependents of service members and veterans, with 639,355 prescriptions in 2025.
The figures come as the US continues to enforce a policy barring military clinics and insurance from covering gender-affirming care, including for veterans.
LGBTQ+ advocates have pointed to the apparent hypocrisy, noting that erectile dysfunction drugs for cisgender men could themselves be considered a form of gender-affirming care.
In February, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a rule banning gender-affirming medical care for trans service members and preventing new enlistments of anyone with a “history of gender dysphoria”.
The policy is being challenged in court in Doe v Department of Defence, brought by GLAD Law and the National Centre for LGBTQ Rights on behalf of three families who say they had accessed care for their transgender children through the military health system for over a decade.
“President Trump has illegally overstepped his authority by abruptly cutting off necessary medical care for military families,” said NCLR legal director Shannon Minter. “This lawless directive is part of a dangerous pattern of this administration ignoring legal requirements and abandoning our service members.”
A separate policy banning trans people from enlisting altogether is also being challenged in two major cases, Talbott v United States and Shilling v United States.
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