Equality Arlington Opposes the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Proposed Rule Repealing Equal Access to Homeless Shelters for Trans Individuals
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development:
Equality Arlington appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (“HUD”) proposed rule on Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Revisions (the “Proposed Rule”). Equality Arlington is a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to improving the lives of the LGBTQ+ community in Arlington, Virginia.
Equality Arlington strongly opposes the changes to the rule entitled Equal Access in Accordance with an Individual’s Gender Identity in Community Planning and Development Programs (the “Equal Access Rule”) and urges HUD to withdraw the Proposed Rule in its entirety. We are concerned that the Proposed Rule would be harmful to the LGBTQ+ community overall and devastating for the transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive community, in particular, and make it extremely difficult for LGBTQ+ affirming service providers to operate. Repealing the Equal Access Rule would threaten the fundamental safety and dignity of many in the LGBTQ+ community and would essentially force shelters and other HUD funding recipients to discriminate against them. Due to these concerns, and the concerns outlined below, HUD should withdraw the Proposed Rule.
The Proposed Rule Would Harm and Discriminate Against the Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender Expansive Community in Violation of Existing Laws and Regulations.
We have seen firsthand the challenges facing many in the LGBTQ+ community when seeking housing and know the increased risks faced by members of the transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive communities. In Equality Arlington’s 2026 LGBTQ+ Community Needs & Priorities Survey, 13.2% of respondents reported experiencing or knowing someone who experienced homelessness or housing insecurity in the past 12 months. Across Virginia 20% of transgender respondents to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey reported experiencing some form of housing discrimination in the past year, such as being evicted from their home or denied a home or apartment because of being transgender.[1] These experiences are supported by the limited data that has been collected on this issue nationally. A study conducted by the Williams Institute School of Law at UCLA found that 17% of the members of the LGBTQ+ community stated that they had experienced homelessness at a point in their life, which is more than twice the rate of homelessness in the general population.[2] In the same study, researchers found that 20% of those in the LGBTQ+ community experienced homelessness before the age of 18.[3] According to Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, LGBTQ + youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than non-LGBTQ+ youth.[4]
Homelessness in the transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive community is part of an interwoven set of challenges that are mutually reinforcing. Transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive individuals are more likely to be economically insecure as a consequence of years of discrimination, thus increasing their risk of homelessness. In early findings from the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey, 30% of respondents reported experiencing homelessness during their lifetime.[5] For example, The National Alliance to End Homelessness found that in 2019, 33% of transgender people in Virginia experiencing houselessness were unsheltered, and 25% of gender non-conforming people in Virginia experiencing houselessness were unsheltered, compared to only23% of cisgender people in Virginia.[6]
The reality of shelter housing for many in the transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive community is dire. 15% of transgender individuals in Virginia who experienced homelessness reported avoiding shelter “because they feared being mistreated as a transgender person” and 9% reported experiencing homelessness in the past year because of being transgender.[7] A study conducted by the National Anti-Violence Project showed 71% of LBGTQ+ domestic violence survivors reported that they were denied shelter because of their gender identity.[8] More than half of transgender respondents in a 2020 poll said it would be impossible or very difficult to find an alternative if they were denied access to a homeless shelter.[9] These challenges highlight the need for robust nondiscrimination protections for transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive people in housing programs.
The Equal Access Rule aimed to address these barriers to housing and shelter by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The Equal Access Rule is also supported by Supreme Court precedent and Congress’s expressed intent to include protections prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity in civil rights statutes. In Bostock v. Clayton County,[10] the U.S. Supreme Court ruled employment discrimination against an individual based on sexual orientation or gender identity is impermissible on the basis that existing protections against sex discrimination within the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes sexual orientation and gender identity. Considering the legislative history and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock, federal protections are clear that “sex” is a protected characteristic that encompasses both gender identity and sexual orientation.
The Proposed Rule Punishes LGBTQ+ Affirming Services Providers and Creates Unsafe Environments for Transgender, Non-binary, and Gender Expansive Individuals Seeking Services
Since the Equal Access Rule went into effect, providers have observed that more transgender people have sought shelter when they need it.[11] Implementing the Proposed Rule could have dire consequences as lack of access to shelters may force individuals to remain in abusive homes or risk the dangers of the streets.[12] Eight percent of adult respondents to the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey said that they had been kicked out of the house they shared with parents, guardians, or foster family because of being transgender.[13] Furthermore, these data show that the prevalence of HIV is three times larger among respondents who reported ever experiencing houselessness (0.7% compared to 0.2%).[14] Residents in Arlington County, Virginia are served by multiple homelessness shelter providers—but the need far outstrips the supply of shelter beds. Waits for emergency shelter are often 6 months or longer. LGBTQ+ residents are often wary of accessing shelter resources because they don’t know if they will be safe or respected in these facilities which increases their time on the street or in other unstable housing environments. The Proposed Rule will only add to LGBTQ+ residents’ wariness of accessing critical shelters and forestalling the start of their path back to independent housing.
The Proposed Rule will not only have dire consequences on transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive individuals seeking services, but it will also have a chilling effect on affirming service providers. The Proposed Rule provides no safeguards against abuse, stating simply that “a facility provider may require reasonable assurances or evidence to establish a person’s sex.” Transgender, non-binary, gender expansive, and cisgender individuals could now be forced to choose between undergoing embarrassing and invasive examinations by shelter staff or going unsheltered. Indeed, the Proposed Rule may even allow invasive searches or examinations of people in need of shelter services.[15] This will only add to the existing mistrust between shelter applicants/residents and shelter providers, making it more challenging for shelter providers to build the trusted relationships with shelter residents needed to help them begin their journey back to independent living. Erecting new, state-mandated barriers to accessing safe and supportive shelter will only grow the numbers of unhoused Americans on the street and in other unsafe living environments.
Implementing such policies would be disturbing and unworkable for both individuals and providers. Requiring providers to house people based on “sex” would inhibit the missions of many who aim to provide safe housing to all who need it. Unfortunately, HUD has provided no guidance and is prepared to punish those who have taken steps to create affirming environments. Whether a provider’s failure to comply will be due to moral objections or conflict with state and local law, HUD wants to make it easier to punish them. The Proposed Rule would enact standards where providers are “subject to appropriate enforcement actions, including but not limited to the withholding or revocation of federal funds.”[16] LGBTQ+ affirming shelters have dedicated their missions to serving everyone, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. They do not need to battle the daily threat of federal overreach and attacks on some of their most vulnerable clients, simply because HUD appears committed to targeting the transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive community.
HUD has presented no evidence to support the need for the Proposed Rule, but existing evidence proves it would undermine fair housing, create unworkable burdens on shelters, and worsen hostile environments for transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive individuals. The Equal Access Rule is not just a policy, it is a lifeline that recognizes the humanity and dignity of all people seeking shelter, regardless of gender identity. Equality Arlington urges HUD to immediately withdraw the Proposed Rule. Thank you for the opportunity to share our perspective. Please contact Equality Arlington President, Kellen MacBeth, board@equalityarlington.org, with any questions.
Sincerely,
Kellen MacBeth
President, Equality Arlington
[1] 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey: Virginia State Report. (2017). Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality. https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTSVAStateReport(1017).pdf
[2]Wilson, B., Kyu Choi, S., Harper, G., Lightfoot, M., Russell, S., & Meyer, I. (2020). Homelessness Among LGBT Adults in the US. Williams Institute UCLA School of Law. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/LGBT-Homelessness-May-2020.pdf
[3]Wilson, B., Kyu Choi, S., Harper, G., Lightfoot, M., Russell, S., & Meyer, I. (2020). Homelessness Among LGBT Adults in the US. Williams Institute UCLA School of Law. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/LGBT-Homelessness-May-2020.pdf
[4]Voices Missed Opportunities: LGBTQ Youth Homelessness in America. (n.d.). https://www.chapinhall.org/wp-content/uploads/VoYC-LGBTQ-Brief-FINAL.pdf
[5]James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Durso, L. E., & Heng-Lehtinen, R. (2024, February). Early Insights: A Report of the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey. Advocates for Transgender Equality. https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/2022%20USTS%20Early%20Insights%20Report_FINAL.pdf
[6]US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part 1 (2020).
[7]2015 U.S. Transgender Survey: Virginia State Report. (2017). Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality. https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTSVAStateReport(1017).pdf
[8]Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and HIV-Affected Intimate Partner Violence in 2015 A report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs 2016 Release Edition. (n.d.). http://avp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2015_ncavp_lgbtqipvreport.pdf
[9]Mahowald, L., Gruberg, S., & Halpin, J. (2020). The State of the LGBTQ Community in 2020 A National Public Opinion Study. https://cdn.americanprogress.org/content/uploads/2020/10/02103624/LGBTQpoll-report.pdf
[10]590 U.S. 644, 660 (2020). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/17-1618_hfci.pdf
[11]When Shelter Becomes a Struggle: The Human Cost of Equal Access Rule Rollback. (2025, March 31). SAGE. https://www.sageusa.org/blog/when-shelter-becomes-a-struggle-the-human-cost-of-equal-access-rule-rollback/; see also,How the Equal Access Rule Can Protect Trans People and Sex Workers. (2025, April 22). National Alliance to End Homelessness. https://endhomelessness.org/blog/how-the-equal-access-rule-can-protect-trans-people-and-sex-workers/
[12]Staff, T. (2025, February 7). HUD’s Equal Access Rule Suspension Endangers Transgender Women. Transvitae.com. https://www.transvitae.com/huds-equal-access-rule-suspension-endangers-transgender-women/
[13]James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Durso, L. E., & Heng-Lehtinen, R. (2024, February). Early Insights: A Report of the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey. Advocates for Transgender Equality. https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/2022%20USTS%20Early%20Insights%20Report_FINAL.pdf
[14]Rastogi, A., Menard, L., Miller, G. H., Cole, W., Laurison, D., Caballero, J. R., Murano-Kinney, S., & Heng-Lehtinen, R. (2025, June). Health and Wellbeing: A report of the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey. Advocates for Transgender Equality. https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/2025-06/USTS_2022Health%26WellbeingReport_WEB.pdf
[15]91 Fed. Reg. 22780 n. 10 (“HUD intends to provide maximum deference to grantees and recognizes that some grantees may be more flexible or stringent in their policies than others for providing evidence of a person’s sex.”). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-04-28/pdf/2026-08244.pdf
[16] 91 Fed. Reg. 22779, 22784 (April 28, 2026) (to be codified at 24 C.F.R. § 5.106(e)). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-04-28/pdf/FR-2026-04-28.pdf
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