FACT BRIEF

Could a new HUD rule limit access to shelters for transgender individuals?

Saturday, July 25, 2020

By Jiyul Kim

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YES

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed modifying a 2016 rule barring federally-funded housing services from limiting access "based on sexual orientation or gender identity." The amended rule would allow single-sex or sex-segregated facilities to establish their own admission/placement policies when "an individual’s gender identity does not match their biological sex."

Under the proposed rule, transgender individuals could not be refused access, but shelters could choose to place them in a gendered-facility without taking personal identity into account.

Critics said the change eliminates needed protections for trans homeless people. HUD Secretary Ben Carson said it will "empower shelter providers to set policies that align with their missions."

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Department of Housing and Urban Development: Updates to Equal Access Rule

Department of Housing and Urban Development: Text of proposed rule change

Center for American Progress: Proposed HUD rule guts transgender protections

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