Equality Arlington Applauds County Board’s Commitment to LGBTQ+ Health and Housing Rights in FY 2026 Budget

Equality Arlington, an LGBTQ+ advocacy nonprofit, applauds the Arlington County Board for reaffirming its commitment to LGBTQ+ residents through key investments in public health and fair housing protections in the FY 2026 budget. The approved budget includes:

• A continued allocation of the $25,000 in marketing funding for Public Health programs first added by the County Board in the FY 2025 budget.

• A new allocation of $35,000 in education and enforcement funding for the Office of Human Rights to fight housing discrimination.

• Guidance to the Office of Human Rights to conduct fair housing testing annually. This has become increasingly important as the federal government stops enforcement based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Additionally, Equality Arlington commends the County’s planning to prevent rising HIV infection rates amid the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to federal HIV prevention funding and rollback of free HIV prevention medication to residents.

In a March 12th letter to the County Board, Equality Arlington highlighted the success of the Public Health Division’s “Keep Your Status Clear: Test Once a Year” funded by last year’s budget. This campaign reached 23,000 users on Instagram, X, and Grindr and resulted in 1,228 visits to the STI Clinic website. The county continues to use this funding to support sexual health marketing and education, and we are grateful that the funding will be reallocated for the next budget year. Additionally, the Trump Administration has stopped enforcing federal fair housing cases based on sexual orientation and gender identity and plans to reduce fair housing staff within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by almost 80%. Arlington residents are relying on the county’s Office of Human Rights to defend their civil rights, and the additional funding from the County Board will help LGBTQ+ residents fight back against housing discrimination in our community.

“This was a challenging budget year for Arlington and we appreciate the commitment from the County Board to protecting LGBTQ+ residents’ public health and civil rights,” says Kellen MacBeth, President of Equality Arlington. “While the Trump administration openly attacks LGBTQ+ Americans for simply existing, we continue to look to local and state leaders to stand up for our most basic rights and protections.”

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