Help Protect Trans Housing
The Trump administration is once again targeting transgender people by proposing to repeal key parts of the Equal Access Rule, a housing protection that helps ensure transgender people can access federally funded shelters and housing without discrimination. The proposed HUD rule would remove protections based on gender identity, redefine sex narrowly as “biological classification,” and allow shelters and housing providers to question or demand proof of a person’s sex.
Transgender people already face disproportionately high rates of homelessness because of family rejection, employment discrimination, violence, and poverty. The Equal Access Rule helped create at least some measure of safety by requiring federally funded shelters to house people according to their gender identity. The Trump administration now wants to strip away those protections and give shelters broad authority to deny or segregate transgender people.
The cruelty of this policy is obvious. A transgender woman fleeing abuse could be forced into a men’s shelter. A transgender teenager rejected by their family seeking emergency housing could be subjected to invasive questioning about their body. A shelter worker’s prejudice could become federal policy.
This proposal arrives at a time when anti-trans rhetoric has already increased fear and violence against our community. Housing instability makes transgender people even more vulnerable to assault, trafficking, poor health outcomes, and criminalization. Removing protections will not make anyone safer. It will simply push more people into danger and onto the streets.
As Christians, we should be clear: housing is not a privilege reserved for the socially acceptable. Shelter is a human need. Throughout scripture, God repeatedly commands care for the vulnerable, the stranger, the poor, and those rejected by society. Jesus did not build barriers around compassion. He broke them down.
When the government tells transgender people that they are unwelcome in shelters and housing programs, the church must answer with a louder truth: you are beloved, worthy, and deserving of safety.
HUD is accepting public comments on this proposed rule right now. Public pressure matters.
Submit a comment opposing this rollback here:
Joelle, I sent my feedback. I agree that although we can't force HUD to keep the existing rules, we've got to speak up and advocate for them!