Campaign Action
It really doesn't get much more sick than this. In an effort to undermine protections for vulnerable transgender individuals, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is planning to allow HUD-funded homeless shelters to take a person's sex and/or gender identity into consideration when deciding if they qualify for admission.
The rule change would overturn the Equal Access Rule put in place by the Obama administration requiring federally funded single-sex shelters to provide transgender homeless individuals “equal access" to a shelter in accordance with their gender identity.
Politico reports that the new proposal, released Wednesday, came a day after HUD Secretary Ben Carson told Congress he wasn't "currently anticipating" making any changes to the rule. Apparently, Carson had a change of heart in the intervening 24 hours. Either that or he was completely clueless about the testimony he gave.
“The announcement today that HUD will now allow anti-trans discrimination in shelters demonstrates that [Carson] either lied to Congress or has no idea what policies his agency is pursuing," said Virginia Rep. Jennifer Wexton, who had questioned Carson on the matter. "Either way, it’s unacceptable."
A HUD spokesperson followed the announcement with a downright offensive statement accusing trans individuals of "misrepresenting" their gender. “Later this year, HUD will be proposing a change to the 2016 rule that will offer local homeless shelter providers greater flexibility when making decisions about individuals who may misrepresent their sex to access sex-specific shelters,” read the statement.
Sign the petition to Congress: Permanently protect transgender people experiencing homelessness.