Senate Democrats on Monday blocked a GOP-led bill that would ban transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports at federally funded schools and educational institutions.
The bill’s failure to advance highlights the limits of Republicans’ narrow margins in Congress, despite control of both chambers. The party still needs support from Democrats in the Senate for most legislation to clear a 60-vote threshold. The party line vote was 51-45.
The Senate vote comes as GOP-led states across the country continue to put forward anti-trans measures, including bills intended to keep transgender students from playing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
Republicans put attacks over transgender issues front and center in competitive races during the last election cycle, including at the top of the ticket in the presidential race. In the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s White House win, some Democrats have said their party must do more to address potential voter concerns.
The bill seeks to amend federal law to require that “sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” for the purpose of determining compliance with Title IX in athletics, according to the legislative text.
Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities that receive funding from the federal government, and applies to schools and other educational institutions.
Republicans have argued that transgender women hold a physical advantage over cisgender women in sports and thus their participation could consequentially limit opportunities for others.
Democrats have said that policies to restrict transgender athletes’ participation in team sports adds to the discrimination that trans people face, particularly trans youth. And they argue that Republicans are seeking to undermine the rights of LGBTQ students by advancing the bill.
Senate Republicans have 53 seats. Typically, that would mean that at least seven Democrats would need to vote with Republicans to hit the 60-vote threshold to advance a bill subject to a filibuster.
ACCRA, March 3 (Reuters) – Ghanaian lawmakers have reintroduced a bill that would become one of Africa’s most restrictive pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation, three sponsors told Reuters, after an earlier attempt to enact it fell short because of legal challenges.
Same-sex sexual acts are currently punishable by up to three years in prison in Ghana. The bill would increase the maximum penalty to five years and also impose jail time for the “willful promotion, sponsorship, or support of LGBTQ+ activities”.
Ghana’s parliament approved the bill in February 2024 but then-President Nana Akufo-Addo did not sign it before his term ended and John Dramani Mahama took office in January.
Any bill passed by parliament must go to the president to be signed into law.
Ruling party lawmakers Samuel Nartey George and Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah and opposition lawmaker John Ntim Fordjour told Reuters the same bill had been reintroduced in parliament on February 25, sponsored by 10 lawmakers in total.
The bill intensifies a crackdown on the rights of LGBTQ people and those accused of “promotion” of sexual and gender minority rights.
Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, a Ghanaian trans woman and LGBTQ activist, told Reuters the bill’s reintroduction was “disheartening and hard to process” but that pro-LGBTQ activism would continue.
The fate of the legislation is unclear. Mahama has said he’d prefer a government-sponsored law rather than one sponsored by parliamentarians.
Last year Ghana’s finance ministry warned that the bill, if signed into law, could jeopardise $3.8 billion in World Bank financing and derail a $3 billion loan package from the International Monetary Fund.
Past polling has shown a lack of tolerance for LGBTQ people in Ghana and Fordjour said the country no longer needed to fear economic sanctions.
“The global political climate is favorable for conservative values as demonstrated in the bold conservative pronouncements of (U.S.) President Donald Trump,” he said.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa moved to remove gender identity protections from the state’s civil rights code Thursday despite massive protests by opponents who say it could expose transgender people to discrimination in numerous areas of life.
The Iowa House approved the bill that would strip the state civil rights code of protections based on gender identity, less than an hour after the state Senate backed the legislation. First introduced last week, the measure raced through the legislative process.
Hundreds of LGBTQ+ advocates streamed into the Capitol rotunda on Thursday waving signs reading “Trans rights are human rights” and chanting slogans including “No hate in our state!” There was a heavy police presence, with state troopers stationed around the rotunda. Of the 167 people who signed up to testify at the public hearing before a House committee, all but 24 were opposed to the bill.
Protesters that watched the vote from the House gallery loudly booed and shouted “Shame!” as the House adjourned. Many admonished Iowa state Rep. Steven Holt, who floor managed the bill and delivered a fierce defense of it before it passed.
The bill would remove gender identity as a protected class from the state’s civil rights law and explicitly define female and male, as well as gender, which would be considered a synonym for sex and “shall not be considered a synonym or shorthand expression for gender identity, experienced gender, gender expression, or gender role.”
The measure would be the first legislative action removing nondiscrimination protections based on gender identity, said Logan Casey, director of policy research at the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ rights think tank.
Supporters of the change say the current law incorrectly codified the idea that people can transition to another gender and granted transgender women access to spaces such as bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams that should be protected for people who were assigned female at birth.
The legislation now goes to Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has been supportive of efforts to limit gender identity protections.
The Iowa lawmakers’ actions came on the same day the Georgia House backed away from removing gender protections from the state’s hate crimes law, which was passed in 2020 after the death of Ahmaud Arbery.
Iowa’s current civil rights law protects against discrimination based on race, color, creed, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin or disability status.
Sexual orientation and gender identity were not originally included in the state’s Civil Rights Act of 1965. They were added by the Democratic-controlled Legislature in 2007, also with the support of about a dozen Republicans across the two chambers.
Iowa Republicans say their changes are intended to reinforce the state’s ban on sports participation and public bathroom access for transgender students. If approved, the bill would go to Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who signed those policies into law. A spokesperson for Reynolds declined to comment on whether she would sign the bill.
V Fixmer-Oraiz, a county supervisor in eastern Johnson County, was the first to testify against the bill at the public hearing. A trans Iowan, they said they have faced their “fair share of discrimination” already and worried that the bill will expose trans Iowans to even more.
“Is it not the role of government to affirm rather than to deny law-abiding citizens their inalienable rights?” Fixmer-Oraiz said. “The people of Iowa deserve better.”
Among those speaking in support of the bill was Shellie Flockhart of Dallas Center, who said she is in favor as a woman and a mother, a “defender of women’s rights” and someone “who believes in the truth of God’s creation.”
“Identity does not change biology,” Flockhart said.
About half of U.S. states include gender identity in their civil rights code to protect against discrimination in housing and public places, such as stores or restaurants, according to the Movement Advancement Project. Some additional states do not explicitly protect against such discrimination but it is included in legal interpretations of statutes.
Iowa’s Supreme Court has expressly rejected the argument that discrimination based on sex includes discrimination based on gender identity.
Several Republican-led legislatures are also pushing to enact more laws this year creating legal definitions of male and female based on the reproductive organs at birth following an executive order from President Donald Trump.
*This is being reported by the AP on WFMY2’s website.
The military services have 30 days to figure out how they will seek out and identify transgender service members to remove them from the force — a daunting task that may end up relying on troops self-reporting or tattling on their colleagues.
A memo sent to Defense Department leaders on Thursday — after the Pentagon filed it late Wednesday as part of a response to a lawsuit — orders the services to set up procedures to identify troops diagnosed with or being treated for gender dysphoria by March 26. They will then have 30 days to begin removing those troops from service.
The order expands on the executive order signed by President Donald Trump during his early days in office setting out steps toward banning transgender individuals from serving in the military. The directive has been challenged in court.
A senior defense official said Thursday they believe there are about 4,200 troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria currently serving in the active duty, National Guard and Reserves.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues, said that between 2015 and 2024, the total cost for psychotherapy, gender-affirming hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgery and other treatment for service members is about $52 million.
There are about 2.1 million troops serving.
However, the issue has taken up a large part of the Pentagon’s attention and time as Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth work to root them out, arguing that their medical condition doesn’t meet military standards.
The order expands on the executive order signed by President Donald Trump during his early days in office setting out steps toward banning transgender individuals from serving in the military. The directive has been challenged in court.
A senior defense official said Thursday they believe there are about 4,200 troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria currently serving in the active duty, National Guard and Reserves.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues, said that between 2015 and 2024, the total cost for psychotherapy, gender-affirming hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgery and other treatment for service members is about $52 million.
There are about 2.1 million troops serving.
However, the issue has taken up a large part of the Pentagon’s attention and time as Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth work to root them out, arguing that their medical condition doesn’t meet military standards.
Sarah Warbelow, vice president for legal affairs for the Human Rights Campaign, said the new policy puts service members in a difficult position and pushes transgender troops to self-identify.
“All of a sudden, you are going to be required to out yourself. Other people are going to be required to out you,” Warbelow said. “If you’ve got a best friend in the military who happens to know that you are transgender, under this new guidance they’re required — if you are a woman who is transgender — they’re required to start referring to you as ‘he’ and ‘sir,’ as of today.”
Troops are put in the position of having to choose “between the safety of their friends and violating direct orders,” Warbelow said, adding that transgender service members may feel pressure to self-identify, knowing that they may be penalized by not coming forward.
On Thursday, U.S. officials said early rough numbers suggest about 600 transgender troops can be quickly identified in the Navy, between 300 and 500 in the Army and fewer than 50 in the Marine Corps. Officials said individuals could, for example, be identified by documented medical treatments, and acknowledged those numbers are likely to increase.
Other numbers were not available, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues.
The officials noted, however, that the early numbers likely fall short of actual totals because some service members may have joined the service after any transition and may not have had medical or surgical procedures that could identify them. And officials also have warned that they may be limited by health privacy laws on what they can and can’t discern or report from records.
A 2018 independent study by the Palm Center, which researched LGBTQ issues, assessed there were an estimated 14,000 transgender troops among the more than 2 million troops serving.
The new Pentagon policy provides two exceptions: if transgender personnel who seek to enlist can prove on a case-by-case basis that they directly support warfighting activities, or if an existing service member, who was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, can prove they support a specific warfighting need and never transitioned to the gender they identify with and proves over 36 months they are stable in their biological sex “without clinically significant distress.”
Gender dysphoria occurs when a person’s biological sex does not match up with their gender identity.
If a waiver is issued, the applicant would still face a situation where only their biological sex was recognized for bathroom facilities, sleeping quarters and even in official recognition, such as being called “Sir” or “Ma’am.”
Warbelow said transgender troops should wait for additional clarity from the service and their commanding officers before doing anything that would affect their military service — also noting that ongoing court cases could affect the policy.
Trump tried to ban transgender troops from serving during his first term, but the issue ended up mired in lawsuits until former President Joe Biden was elected and overturned the ban.
First year freshman Texas state house representative Brent Money (R-Greenville) filed House Bill 3399 on Wednesday which would ultimately ban all gender transitioning procedures in the state of Texas, regardless of age of the patient.
The section of the bill that would prohibit doctors from providing this care to adults is written in this section:
Sec. 161.702. PROHIBITED PROVISION OF GENDER TRANSITIONING OR GENDER REASSIGNMENT PROCEDURES AND TREATMENTS [TO CERTAIN CHILDREN]. For the purpose of transitioning a person’s [child’s] biological sex as determined by the sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous profiles of the person [child] or affirming the person’s [child’s] perception of the person’s [child’s] sex if that perception is inconsistent with the person’s [child’s] biological sex, a physician or health care provider may not knowingly: (1) perform a surgery that sterilizes the person [child], including: (A) castration; (B) vasectomy; (C) hysterectomy; (D) oophorectomy; (E) metoidioplasty; (F) orchiectomy; (G) penectomy; (H) phalloplasty; and (I) vaginoplasty; (2) perform a mastectomy; (3) provide, prescribe, administer, or dispense any of the following prescription drugs that induce transient or permanent infertility: (A) puberty suppression or blocking prescription drugs to stop or delay normal puberty; (B) supraphysiologic doses of testosterone to females; or (C) supraphysiologic doses of estrogen to males; or (4) remove any otherwise healthy or non-diseased body part or tissue.
Did you think this was all about protecting the children? Of course not. They are coming for you, regardless of whether you are a grown adult or not.
The one glimmer of hope in this situation is that bills filed by freshman state reps in Texas typically do not making anywhere close to the floor for a vote. It would be a rare case if it did, and at this time there are also no co-authors to the bill. This meant he’s out on a limb on his own with this legislation. It may be a red meat attention getter for his constituents and the GOP at large.
The Department of Homeland Security has eliminated policies preventing the investigation of individuals or groups solely based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis quietly updated its policy manual earlier this month, as first reported by Bloomberg, removing LGBTQ+ identities from the General Requirements section that prohibit surveillance based solely on immutable characteristics.
The manual now states: “OSIC Personnel are prohibited from engaging in intelligence activities based solely on an individual’s or group’s race, ethnicity, sex, religion, country of birth, nationality, or disability. The use of these characteristics is permitted only in combination with other information, and only where (1) intended and reasonably believed to support one or more of I&A’s national or departmental missions and (2) narrowly focused in support of that mission (or those missions).”
The manual previously stated, via the internet archive: “OSIC Personnel are prohibited from engaging in intelligence activities based solely on an individual’s or group’s race, ethnicity, gender,religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, country of birth, nationality, or disability. The use of these characteristics is permitted only in combination with other information, and only where (1) intended and reasonably believed to support one or more of I&A’s national or departmental missions and (2) narrowly focused in support of that mission (or those missions).”
DHS quietly eliminates ban on surveillance based on sexual orientation and gender identity
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All directions surveillance camera
The DHS quietly updated its policy manual earlier this month, removing LGBTQ+ identities from the section prohibiting surveillance based solely on immutable characteristics.
The Department of Homeland Security has eliminated policies preventing the investigation of individuals or groups solely based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis quietly updated its policy manual earlier this month, as first reported by Bloomberg, removing LGBTQ+ identities from the General Requirements section that prohibit surveillance based solely on immutable characteristics.
The manual now states: “OSIC Personnel are prohibited from engaging in intelligence activities based solely on an individual’s or group’s race, ethnicity, sex, religion, country of birth, nationality, or disability. The use of these characteristics is permitted only in combination with other information, and only where (1) intended and reasonably believed to support one or more of I&A’s national or departmental missions and (2) narrowly focused in support of that mission (or those missions).”
The manual previously stated, via the internet archive: “OSIC Personnel are prohibited from engaging in intelligence activities based solely on an individual’s or group’s race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, country of birth, nationality, or disability. The use of these characteristics is permitted only in combination with other information, and only where (1) intended and reasonably believed to support one or more of I&A’s national or departmental missions and (2) narrowly focused in support of that mission (or those missions).”
The changes come shortly after Donald Trump signed executive orders forcing the removal of all references to diversity, equity, and inclusion in government, as well as mandating that the federal government deny the existence of transgender people by recognizing only two sexes — male or female — despite the scientific and medical consensus that sex is a spectrum.
Trump has appointed Kristi Noem, former governor of South Dakota, as the Secretary of Homeland Security. Noem has a history of targeting LGBTQ+ rights, including by signing executive orders banning transgender athletes from participating on teams that align with their identities and banning gender-affirming care for youth, though she is best known for her admission that she killed a 14-month-old puppy she deemed untrainable.
The Office of Intelligence and Analysis “has a long track record of civil liberties and civil rights abuses,” according to the Brennan Center for Justice, including unconstitutionally surveilling journalists and racial justice activists as well as monitoring “political views shared by millions of Americans — about topics like abortion, government, and elections — that DHS baldly asserts will lead to violence.”
Making the decision to leave the United States can be a daunting decision for anyone who has never lived abroad before. You might wish to spend some time in another country for an extended period of time– more than your usual one to two week vacation. There are several countries, many of which who are friendly to LGBTQ+ rights, who allow for various types of visas that can extend your stay, before you decide to make a permanent move.
GetGoldenVisa.com just published a nice guide for choosing the right country to move to and how to move out of the US. The website focuses mostly on the Golden Visa, which allows investors to enter countries. There are other visa options such as student visas, and the digital nomad visa.
The Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature on Tuesday overrode the Democratic governor’s veto of a bill that bans gender-transition treatments for minors, fulfilling a longtime goal of conservative lawmakers and joining about half of the country’s states in enacting bans or sharp limits on those procedures.
The Kansas bill had broad Republican support, but its status had been uncertain because of the opposition of Gov. Laura Kelly, who said it was “disappointing that the Legislature continues to push for government interference in Kansans’ private medical decisions.” Ms. Kelly vetoed similar bills in each of the last two years, and lawmakers had previously failed to override her.
This time, Republicans in both chambers mustered the two-thirds margin necessary to override her and celebrated the decision as following President Trump’s lead on the issue. Kansas had been among the only states where Republicans hold significant legislative power without such a law.
“Today, a supermajority of the Kansas Senate declared that Kansas is no longer a sanctuary state” for those procedures, Senator Ty Masterson, the chamber’s president, said in a statement.
Republican supporters of the measure, which bans hormone treatments, puberty blockers and transition surgeries for transgender patients younger than 18, described it as guarding young people from life-altering choices that they could later regret. Under the new law, doctors who provide those treatments to minors could lose their licenses and be sued by patients or their parents.
The shift in Kansas comes as President Trump and his administration crack down on gender transitions for minors nationally, seeking to end funding for hospitals that provide those treatments. The Trump administration has also moved to ban trans women and girls from competing in women’s sports, to bar trans people from serving openly in the military, to house trans women who are federal prisoners with men, and to no longer reflect the gender identities of trans people on passports.
Democrats and L.G.B.T.Q. advocates called the Kansas legislation an invasion of privacy that would have devastating health consequences. In her veto message, Ms. Kelly said “infringing on parental rights is not appropriate, nor is it a Kansas value,” and warned that enacting the measure could have economic consequences.
“This legislation will also drive families, businesses, and health care workers out of our state, stifling our economy and exacerbating our workforce shortage issue,” the governor wrote.
The new law comes as part of a broader push by Republicans in Kansas, a state that Mr. Trump carried last year by 16 percentage points, to place limits on transgender people. Kansas stopped changing birth certificates to reflect gender identity in 2023 after lawmakers overrode another veto by Ms. Kelly and passed a law defining male and female as a person’s sex at birth.
But as Republicans across the country have moved in recent years to restrict transition treatments for minors, Kansas had remained an outlier on the Great Plains. Bans or severe limits are already in place in three of its four bordering states — Colorado is the exception — and across much of the rest of the Midwest.
Bans elsewhere have been challenged in state and federal courts with a range of preliminary outcomes. Many expect the U.S. Supreme Court to ultimately decide whether there is a national right to access such treatments.
Investigators probing what they described as the torturous killing of a 24-year-old transgender man in upstate New York, allegedly at the hands of five people, say they have found no evidence that the homicide was a hate crime.
The remains of the victim, identified as 24-year-old Sam Nordquist of Minnesota, were discovered on Wednesday in a field in Benton, New York, in Yates County, according to Capt. Kelly Swift, a New York State Police investigator.
Swift said investigators suspect that Nordquist was tortured and killed in neighboring Ontario County and moved “in an attempt to conceal a crime.”
“Based on evidence and witness statements, we have determined that Sam endured prolonged physical and psychological abuse at the hands of multiple individuals,” Swift said Friday during a news conference.
A criminal complaint obtained by Rochester, New York, ABC affiliate WHAM alleged that the suspects sexually assaulted Nordquist with a “table leg and broomstick.” The complaint further alleges that the suspects subjected Nordquist to “prolonged beatings by punching, kicking and striking [Nordquist] with numerous objects, including but not limited to sticks, dog toys, rope, bottles, belts, canes and wooden boards.”
According to the complaint, the torture allegedly took place in room 22 at Patty’s Lodge in Hopewell, New York, in Ontario County between Jan. 1 and Feb. 2.
Swift said investigators executed a search warrant at the hotel on Thursday, specifically searching room 22 for evidence.
“In my 20-year law enforcement career, this is one of the most horrific crimes I have ever investigated,” Swift added. “My thoughts are with Sam’s family during this time.”
Suspects charged with murder
The suspects arrested in the case were identified by Swift as Precious Arzuaga, 38, of Canandaigua, New York; Jennifer Quijano, 30, of Geneva, New York; Kyle Sage, 33, of Rochester, New York; Patrick Goodwin, 30, also of Canandaigua; and Emily Motyka, 19, of Lima, New York.
Ontario County District Attorney James Ritts said all five suspects have all been charged with second-degree murder under the state’s depraved indifference statute. He said the suspects have been arraigned and are being held without bail at the Ontario County Jail.
It was unclear if the suspects had hired or were appointed attorneys to represent them.
No indication of a hate crime
In a joint statement released on Sunday, the state police and Ritts addressed whether investigators are pursuing hate crime charges against the suspects.
“At this time we have no indication that Sam’s murder was a hate crime,” the joint statement reads. “To help alleviate the understandable concern his murder could be a hate crime, we are disclosing that Sam and his assailants were known to each other, identified as LGBTQ+, and at least one of the defendants lived with Sam in the time period leading up to the instant offense.”
Authorities said they released the information after getting “multiple inquiries from across our community, New York State and the entire nation.”
In the statement, officials noted that under the New York State penal code, a hate crime is defined as an offense committed “in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct.”
“We are still in the early stages of this investigation,” the joint statement reads. “While significant evidence has been obtained, we are continuing to follow up on leads brought to State Police. We urge the community not to speculate into the motive behind the murder as we work to find justice for Sam.”
Governor described the killing as ‘sickening’
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement released Sunday that she had directed the State Police to provide any support and resources to Ritts’ office “as they continue their investigation, including into whether this was a hate crime.” The statement further said that Hochul had directed the New York State Division of Human Rights Hate and Bias Prevention Unit to offer assistance and support “to all community members affected by this terrible act of violence,” adding, “There must be justice for Sam Nordquist.”
Hochul also said that she had instructed the New York State Office of Victim Services to offer support to Nordquist’s family.
“The charges against these individuals are sickening and all New Yorkers should join together to condemn this horrific act,” Hochul said in the statement. “We are praying for Sam Nordquist’s family, community and loved ones who are experiencing unimaginable grief.”
‘Beyond depraved’
“The facts and the circumstances of this crime are beyond depraved,” Ritts said Friday during the press conference. “This is by far the worst homicide investigation that our office has ever been part of. No human being should have to endure what Sam endured.”
Nordquist’s family filed a missing person report with the Canandaigua Police Department on Feb. 9, after last hearing from Nordquist on Jan. 1, according to a missing-person flyer issued by the Missing People in America organization.
According to the flyer, Nordquist’s family said he left Minnesota on Sept. 28, 2024, with a round-trip plane ticket to New York. The family, according to the flyer, alleged that he met a woman online who convinced him to visit her.
The family, according to the flyer, claimed Nordquist was planning to fly back to Minnesota within two weeks, but never boarded his return flight.
“I don’t understand why someone would do that to another person,” Kayla Nordquist, Sam’s sister, told Saint Paul, Minnesota, ABC affiliate KSTP. “Sam was amazing and would give the shirt off his back to anyone.”
When asked Friday about the missing-person flyer, Swift declined to comment.
Swift would not disclose details of the abuse, saying the investigation is in its early stages. However, she said, Nordquist was “subjected to repeated acts of violence and torture in a manner that ultimately led to his death.”
Swift said more arrests were possible and asked anyone with information about the crime to contact state police investigators.
Ritts said he anticipates a grand jury will take action in the case “very quickly.”
Multiple vigils for Nordquist are being scheduled this week in several states, including one Monday evening at the Wood Library in Canandaigua, New York, according to Family Counseling Service of the Finger Lakes, which is hosting the event. Two other vigils are planned for Monday night in Nordquist’s home state of Minnesota, including one outside the Minnesota State Capitol building in Saint Paul.
On Tuesday evening, vigils are scheduled to take place at the Phelps Arts Center in Phelps, New York, and at The Presbyterian Church in Geneva, New York. On Thursday, a vigil is scheduled to take place on the Main Plaza in downtown New Braunfels, Texas, about 30 miles northeast of San Antonio.
On February 7, HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced HUD will stop enforcing the 2016 Equal Access Rule, which requires housing, facilities, and services funded through HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) to ensure equal access to programs for individuals based on their gender identity without intrusive questioning or being asked to provide documentation. Secretary Turner stated that the action “will ensure housing programs, shelters and other HUD-funded providers offer services to Americans based on their sex at birth.” NLIHC will continue to advocate for equal access and fair housing for LGBTQ+ people.
In a press conference following Secretary Turner’s first address to HUD, Turner stated, “I am directing HUD staff to halt any pending or future enforcement actions related to HUD’s 2016 Equal Access Rule, which, in essence, tied housing programs, shelters and other facilities funded by HUD to far-left gender ideology.” Turner continued: “We, at this agency, are carrying out the mission laid out by President Trump on January 20th when he signed an executive order to restore biological truth to the federal government.”
Weakening the Equal Access Rule and its enforcement mechanisms is unacceptable. Access to shelter is a basic, fundamental necessity. LGBTQ youth are more than twice as likely to experience homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers, and black LGBTQ youth have the highest rates of youth homelessness. One in three transgender people will experience homelessness in their lifetime, and 70% of trans people who have used a shelter have experienced harassment. NLIHC will continue to work with LGBTQ advocates to ensure that everyone has access to safe, decent, affordable housing.
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