The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is moving to allow federally-funded homeless shelters to deny people admission based on their gender identity.
A proposed HUD rule will allow federally-funded shelters to establish policies “consistent with state and local law” with regards to how shelters “consider an individual’s sex” when they are being admitted by facilities where people are placed into same-sex or gender-segregated accommodations. The ruling will also allow shelters to use a range of factors in making gender determinations, including “privacy, safety, practical concerns, religious beliefs, any relevant considerations under civil rights and nondiscrimination authorities, the individual’s sex as reflected in official government documents, as well as the gender which a person identifies with.”
According to LGBTQ advocates, the proposed rule will effectively gut the Obama-era Equal Access Rule, a 2012 directive that sought to “ensure core [HUD] programs are open to all eligible individuals and families regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.”
According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, approximately 50% of LGBTQ Americans live in the 30 states that do not have explicit state-wide LGBTQ non-discrimination protection laws on the books.
The proposed rule follows the passage of the Equality Act this week by the House of Representatives. The act aims to extend federal civil rights protections to LGBTQ individuals by banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, education, employment, and other areas.
The proposed HUD rule, however, is the latest effort under President Donald Trump to limit or deny access to federal housing programs for a number of vulnerable groups.
In May 2019, HUD moved to prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving federal housing aid, for example. The new rule could impact up to 25,000 families of “mixed” immigration status where at least one family member is undocumented, potentially denying housing for up to 108,000 individuals. Within that group are 55,000 children who are citizens or legal residents.
In 2018, HUD proposed raising rents for low-income Americans receiving rental assistance. That same year, HUD pushed back Obama-era efforts to bolster the enforcement of the Fair Housing Act in federal housing programs.
The most recent HUD changes come as the number of people experiencing homelessness rises nationwide. According to The National Alliance to End Homelessness, 552,830 people experienced homelessness in 2018, a 0.3 percent increase from 2017. Research shows that transgender people experience high rates of homelessness overall while also experiencing higher incidences of discrimination, violence, and mistreatment because of their gender identity while navigating the shelter system.
While being grilled at a recent congressional hearing over whether he believes LGBTQ people should enjoy access to fair housing and other civil rights, HUD Secretary Ben Carson told legislators, “If you want to do something different about the definition of gender, that is a congressional duty.”
7 Comments
Carson and his ilk are a menace.
“Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson wants to roll back an Obama-era rule mandating that single-sex homeless shelters funded by his department admit residents based on their stated gender identity instead of their sex at birth, arguing that people could intentionally misrepresent their gender for malicious reasons.“.
The women and children in these shelters are already under massive stress. What about their needs? The last thing they need is some guy running around saying he is a woman. Whether he is running a scam or seriously demented he is still causing serious disruption.
Fuck off. Some of those women, are likely transitioning, and have been fucked over by douchecanoes like you, worrying about genitals.
Volunteer to be a jerk.
What if Ted Bundy says he’s a she right before sentencing...should we let him go to ladies jail? But but but....he doesn’t look like a she...oh so now you have to look a certain way...are you gendering ted??? If you have a wee wee you go to men’s facility...if you have a vagina you go with women. Very simple. There is no way to verify whether or not someone is really identifying as a female or just looking to get away from the men...or worse...there is zero way to enforce this. Not fair to the women and kids.
fake outrage....
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