1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I'm asking you to oppose HUD's proposed rule 'Equal Access to Housing in Department of Housing and Urban Development Programs' and urge the agency to withdraw it. This rule eliminates federal housing discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people and makes our most vulnerable neighbors less safe. Trans adults are 8 times more likely to experience homelessness than non-LGBTQ+ adults. This rule strips away the safety nets they depend on by forcing shelters to place people according to 'biological sex' and allowing facilities to demand undefined 'reasonable assurances or evidence' to establish someone's sex. The 2016 protections that banned intrusive questioning and requests for anatomical or medical proof will be repealed. Shelters will no longer be prohibited from conducting genital inspections. The administration claims this protects women, but it actually puts trans people at significantly higher risk of harassment and assault by forcing them into shelters that don't match their gender identity. HUD itself admits the rule will deny trans people access to appropriate shelter and tells them to simply find somewhere else to go. For people with nowhere else to turn, that's not a solution. This rule doesn't help anyone. It only makes a vulnerable community worse off.