Revisions to the Equal Access Rule Will Endanger Transgender People

We have learned from CenterLink that the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) announced a new proposed rule that guts protections for transgender people by removing critical equal access protections to regulations meant to ensure the safety of anyone in need of HUD-funded programs.

By removing these protections, shelters and programs that receive or operate using HUD grants are now able to ignore nondiscrimination protections for transgender people, leaving them vulnerable to being denied shelter and forced out onto the streets.

One in three transgender Americans has been homeless at some point in their lives. Shelters are often their best access-point to programs that provide safe individual housing – which is a critical need during a global pandemic and an economic downturn.

OutFront Kalamazoo Executive Director Amy Hunter was part of the working group who wrote the original HUD shelter rule. She will be leading a webinar on Wednesday, August 12th, 2020, for Centerlink members to break down why preserving the Equal Access Rule is critical to ensure the safety of transgender people in need of shelter. The webinar will also feature Jay Kaplan, LGBTQ Project Attorney at American Civil Liberties Union and Lillianna Reyes, Ruth Ellis Center Drop-In Center Director and Executive Director of Trans Sistas of Color Project. To attend, click here.

Every American should have access to safe shelter free of discrimination. Preserving the Equal Access Rule is critical to ensure the safety of transgender people in need of shelter.

CenterLink is reminding everyone that there are 60 days to tell the Administration that their plans to cut protections for transgender people will not be tolerated. You can submit your comment here.