Trump guidance on "how to spot a transgender person" at homeless shelters ended

[DonViejo]

The Biden administration announced yesterday that it was ending one of Donald Trump's cruelest anti-LGBTQ policies.

By Alex Bollinger Friday, April 23, 2021

The Biden administration announced yesterday that it was ending one of Donald Trump’s cruelest anti-LGBTQ policies, which allowed homeless shelters that receive federal funds to discriminate against transgender people.

“Access to safe, stable housing — and shelter — is a basic necessity,” said Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge said. “Today, we are taking a critical step in affirming HUD’s commitment that no person be denied access to housing or other critical services because of their gender identity.”

In her announcement, Fudge said that she would be withdrawing the Trump administration’s proposed rule change to the Obama administration’s implementation of the Equal Access Rule, effectively banning discrimination against LGBTQ people in many areas of housing law.

Ben Carson, who was the HUD secretary under Trump, repeatedly attacked the Equal Access Rule, saying that it allowed “big, hairy men” – how he referred to transgender women – to “impede the rights of” cisgender women who are “not comfortable with the idea of being in a shelter, being in a shower, with somebody who had very different anatomy.” He was grilled on the rule in House hearings, where he said that it amounted to “extra rights” for LGBTQ – and especially transgender – people.

more
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/04/trump-guidance-spot-transgender-person-homeless-shelters-ended

[gratuitous]

1. They just didn't miss a trick, did they?

If there was a way to knuckle people even a little bit more, the former guy was all up in it. You're homeless? Not suffering enough. Seeking shelter? Not yet. Turned away because some self-righteous asshole decided you're not bad off enough? Getting there.

[soothsayer]

4. Seriously. They're just despicable

[Croney]

2. Ben, being in a shelter and being in a shower are not the same thing.

Women aren't ever forced to shower together. You just grasped at any straw that would support your bigotry.

[Solly Mack]

3. K&R

[PSPS]

5. Ben Carson knows what it means to have "the lord inside him."

[Blue Owl]

6. Ben spends a lot of time thinking about group showers and bath houses

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. White House Reverses Trump Policy Discriminating Against Trans Homeless People

Link to tweet

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on Thursday that transgender people will be shielded from discrimination in homeless shelters that receive federal funding, rescinding a proposal made by the Trump administration in July that would have allowed shelters to turn away trans people.

“Access to safe, stable housing — and shelter — is a basic necessity,” HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said in a statement. “Unfortunately, transgender and gender non-conforming people report more instances of housing instability and homelessness than cis-gender people. Today, we are taking a critical step in affirming HUD’s commitment that no person be denied access to housing or other critical services because of their gender identity. HUD is open for business for all.”

The agency said it will fully uphold the 2016 Equal Access Rule guaranteeing LGBTQ+ people equal access to federally funded shelters and facilities. The Trump administration proposal that would have allowed shelters to turn away trans people was supposed to go into effect this month. However, HUD effectively voided it in February when President Joe Biden halted all last-minute Trump administration maneuvers, including the proposed rule change.

LGBTQ+ advocates widely cheered Thursday’s HUD annoucenemt, saying it was confirmation that Biden and Fudge are staying good on the administration’s promise to protect trans people against housing discrimination.