Trump administration wants to change rules so homeless shelters can turn away trans people

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson
Photo by: Wikimedia Commons

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), headed by Secretary Ben Carson, has issued a proposed rule change that would allow homeless shelters to turn away transgender people from single-sex shelters based on their “biological sex” rather than how they self-identify.

Essentially, if a trans woman seeks entry into a women’s shelter, the shelter operators could turn her away based on the gender assigned to her at birth (male) rather than her self-identified gender identity (female).

Related: 17% of LGB people in the U.S. have experienced homelessness

The new rule says shelters can decide whether to accept trans people or not, but they have to apply their rule consistently. If a shelter does turn away trans people, it must provide a “transfer recommendation” to another trans-inclusive facility.

However, the nearest facility could be many miles away, placing an additional burden on trans homeless people when they’re already subject to higher rates of violence and housing insecurity. Life on the streets is especially dangerous as it increases one’s possible exposure to coronavirus during the ongoing epidemic which has already killed over 117,000 Americans.

The proposed rule change would basically trash a 2016 Obama administration guidance requiring single-sex shelters to admit trans people….

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