By Renee M. Willis, NLIHC President and CEO
Every June, Pride Month gives us an opportunity to celebrate the resilience, leadership, and contributions of LGBTQIA+ people to our communities and to the housing justice movement. It is also a time to reflect on the work that remains unfinished.
At the National Low Income Housing Coalition, we believe in something very simple: everyone deserves the dignity, safety, and stability of having a place to call home. That belief does not change based on who someone is, who they love, or how they identify. Housing is a fundamental human need, and equal access to housing is a matter of both fairness and justice.
That is why I am deeply concerned by HUD’s proposal to roll back key protections under the Equal Access Rule, which ensures LGBTQIA+ people have equal access to a range of HUD programs and services.
Building on the foundation laid by advocates who have tirelessly advocated for LGBTQIA+ inclusion in all areas of life, federal policy has made strides towards increasing nondiscriminatory access to housing programs. For over a decade, HUD has required that equal access be provided to HUD-assisted or HUD-insured programs regardless of one’s sexual orientation or gender identity. In 2016, HUD made changes to address the barriers transgender and gender nonconforming people face in shelter access. Now, HUD seeks to roll back these protections during an affordable housing crisis.
The breadth of HUD’s current proposal is only matched by its cruelty. The proposed rule would require HUD-assisted shelter providers to turn away transgender people who simply need shelter consistent with their gender identity. HUD’s proposal does not stop there; it also strips protections from sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination across HUD programs, far beyond the shelter context.
When one in three transgender people surveyed report experiencing homelessness in their lives, and LGBTQ+ youth make up 40% of the homeless youth population, HUD’s proposal threatens to increase homelessness, housing insecurity, and risk of self-harm and suicide. Housing saves lives, and the Equal Access Rule is critical to keeping marginalized people safely housed and protected from violence.
NLIHC urges HUD to withdraw its harmful proposal. We also ask advocates to take action this Pride Month—submit your comment in defense of the Equal Access Rule and urge your members of Congress to pass the Equality Act.
Throughout our history, progress has come because people were willing to stand together and insist that our systems live up to our values. The Equal Access Rule represents that kind of progress. It recognizes that every person deserves to be treated with dignity when seeking housing and services, and it affirms that our public programs should serve people fairly and equitably.
This Pride Month, I hope we not only celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community but also recommit ourselves to protecting the policies that help ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to access safe, affordable housing. We stand in solidarity with the #HousingWithDignity campaign working to counter HUD’s proposal.
Our work has always been about expanding opportunity, protecting dignity, and ensuring that everyone has a place to call home. That commitment remains as strong today as ever.