Take Action to Oppose HUD’s Proposed Rollback of LGBTQ+ Protections in HUD Programs - Comments Due June 29!

By NLIHC Policy Team

HUD’s recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), “Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Revisions,” (see Memo, 5/4) seeks to roll back HUD regulations that protect access to HUD programs for LGBTQ+ people.  

While HUD’s messaging around the rulemaking focuses on shelter access, HUD’s proposal is much broader than that. The Proposed Rule would eliminate LGBTQ+ protections across a range of HUD programs. Components of the rule include: 

• Removing all references to “gender,” “gender identity,” and “sexual orientation,” and replacing them with “sex,” eliminating protections for LGBTQ+ individuals’ nondiscriminatory access to shelter and HUD programs, including Section 8 housing/other housing programs, fair housing enforcement and administration, mortgage programs, homelessness and domestic violence programs, and community development programs. 
• Allowing facilities like single-sex shelters to “require reasonable assurances or evidence to establish a person’s sex.” 
• Attempting to preempt any conflicting state or local laws (i.e., laws that offer protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity) within the context of HUD Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) programs. 

NLIHC encourages advocates to oppose HUD’s proposal by June 29 at 11:59 pm ET! See below for resources on submitting comments.  

Background on Equal Access 

When one in three transgender people experience homelessness in their lives, LGBTQ+ youth make up 40% of the homeless youth population, and transgender people report feeling unsafe in emergency shelters, these realities demand an intentional commitment to creating pathways to safe, decent, affordable housing that addresses inequities. New research from NAEH and A4TE leverages the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey to show further impacts of housing discrimination on the lives of transgender people, including increased likelihood of facing verbal and physical violence, experiencing homelessness, and considering suicide. Another article in this week’s Memo summarizes this new research.  

HUD’s 2012 Equal Access Rule required that access to HUD-assisted or -insured programs be made regardless of one’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. HUD updated the rule in 2016. The updates largely focused on the barriers transgender and gender nonconforming people face in securing equal access to shelter. The 2016 Rule required that all housing/services funded by CPD ensure equal access to programs for individuals consistent with their gender identity. The 2016 amendments prohibited intrusive questioning as well as asking for anatomical information or for physical, medical, or documentary evidence of one’s gender identity.  

Trump Administration Targets LGBTQ+ People, Fails to Enforce Equal Access to Housing 

However, in 2020, the Trump administration attempted to weaken protections for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals seeking emergency shelter through proposed changes to the Equal Access Rule. The 2020 proposal received over 66,000 comments, an overwhelming response signifying public resistance to the then-proposed changes. In 2021, then-President Biden’s Executive Order 13998 reinforced laws that prohibited sex discrimination, and the 2020 proposed rule was withdrawn.  

Yet in 2025, President Trump’s EO 14168 expressed the administration’s intent to roll back civil rights protections for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals, and names the 2016 Rule specifically. In February, HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced the halting of ongoing or future enforcement actions for the 2016 Rule (see Memo, 2/10/25). The current Proposed Rule continues in this effort, while also removing language from HUD regulations (beyond CPD regulations) offering protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Importantly, the current Proposed Rule goes much farther to roll back LGBTQ+ protections in HUD programmatic regulations than the 2020 proposed rulemaking. NLIHC strongly opposes this latest attempt by the administration to roll back critical protections for the LGBTQ+ community.  

Take action to oppose HUD’s Equal Access Rule Rollback! 

• Submit your own comment urging HUD to withdraw the Proposed Rule by June 29 at 11:59 pm ET! 
  • Advocates for Trans Equality has fact sheets, a social media toolkit, and commenting tips here.  
  • Organizations can find comment drafting guidance and templates here.     
  • Individuals can submit a public comment by June 29 using A4TE’s comment portal here.  
• Educate your networks about the HUD proposal and urge them to comment by June 29 at 11:59 pm ET! 
  • NHLP has a detailed legal analysis of the Proposed Rule here.  

Read the new research report from NAEH and A4TE here.  

Use NLIHC’s EAR Digital Toolkit here.  

Explore Chapter 6 of NLIHC’s Advocates’ Guide 2026 to learn about LGBTQ+ access to housing assistance.