Local Groups Condemn Proposed Ban on Trans People in Homeless Shelters
Two Texas LGBTQ organizations have partnered to denounce the latest anti-transgender policy rolled out by the Trump administration—a proposed Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule change that would exclude transgender people from homeless shelters.
Equality Texas, a nonprofit dedicated to securing full equality for LGBTQ people, and Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), a trans-led, trans-focused organization, released a joint statement on July 27 condemning HUD’s plan to undermine regulations now in place that prohibit discrimination in federally funded housing.
“This proposed rule released by HUD puts thousands of Americans at risk from receiving adequate shelter and safety, and puts transgender lives at risk,” the organizations said.
First announced in a press release issued on July 1, the HUD proposal would reverse an Obama-era rule that required homeless shelters to house trans people according to their gender identity. The new rule would “better accommodate religious beliefs of shelter providers” by allowing single-gender shelters to determine admissions based on an individual’s “perceived” sex.
The proposed rule modification, which was written by HUD secretary and anti-LGBTQ activist Ben Carson, also included instructions on what a shelter can do to spot a trans person. Shelter workers may use “factors such as height, the presence (but not the absence) of facial hair, the presence of an Adam’s apple, and other physical characteristics which, when considered together, are indicative of a person’s biological sex.” The rule also states that workers may ask those seeking housing for proof of their “biological sex.”
Read more: http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/2020/07/local-groups-condemn-proposed-ban-on-trans-people-in-homeless-shelters/
