The Biden administration announced on Thursday (April 22) that it has formally withdrawn a rule proposed in the Trump era by the Department of Housing & Urban Development that would have allowed taxpayer-funded homeless shelters to turn away transgender people on the basis of their gender identity.
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said in a statement the proposed regulation, which would have weakened the Equal Access Rule barring discrimination in housing against LGBTQ people and was widely expected to be scrapped in the Biden administration, won't be implemented.
"Access to safe, stable housing — and shelter — is a basic necessity," Fudge said. "Unfortunately, transgender and gender-nonconforming people report more instances of housing instability and homelessness than cisgender people. Today, we are taking a critical step in affirming HUD's commitment that no person be denied access to housing or other critical services because of their gender identity. HUD is open for business for all."