The current Equal Access Rule ensures that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s housing programs are open to all eligible individuals and families, regardless of family composition, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.
On April 28, HUD released a proposal that would decimate the existing provisions protecting LGBTQ+ communities’ equal access to critical housing and homelessness resources. It would remove references to “sexual orientation” and “gender identify” in all HUD regulations and replace those terms with the word “sex,” which it defines as “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.”
As a result, shelter placement would have to align with biological sex rather than gender identity. The proposal would also allow HUD-funded shelters to pursue “reasonable assurances or evidence” of sex; and require funding recipients to comply with these rules over conflicting state and local laws.
We are grateful to CHAPA for providing an excellent step-by-step guide on how to submit a comment opposing this rule. Please put this on your to-do list before June 29! We must be heard!
