Protect Pride in Shelters
We are halfway through Pride Month, and this blog post has been heavy on my mind. How do I balance the joy and community of being queer with my peers with the heavy reality of the new/old oppressions returning? This has been a conversation I have had with myself and others in my community. And it reminds me of a quote that many quote during June,
“During the darkest days of the AIDS crisis we buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced all night, and it was the dance that kept us in the fight because it was the dance we were fighting for.” – Dan Savage
This quote by Dan Savage was made during the AIDs epidemic when gay men were ostracized and left to die in fear of catching AIDs. With no one to care for many who were sick with AIDs, they were forced to look within their own community. This is where lesbians stepped up to care for, treat, and spend time with many men before their last days. During this bleak time, when many were sure of death, many LGBTQ+ people were faced with the choice to hide and die or fight for a better and brighter future. We are seeing many transgender individuals make this choice today.
It feels super easy to be blinded by the rainbow everything, cocktail nights, and drag brunches. But we cannot forget the protests, the remembrance of our past, and the fight for a better tomorrow.
At NEOCH, we fight for a better future with our TMEH Tierra Marie Empowerment House, our crisis housing program for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals, is a powerful example of what it looks like to create safety, belonging, and affirmation in the face of exclusion. A place where individuals do not need to choose between their identity or shelter.
Our current administration has villainized transgender individuals. A minority in our population is blamed for violence across America and is pushed out of safe spaces: schools, churches, workplaces, and public spaces. We are even seeing them pushed out of shelters in our Cleveland community.
Right now, there is a proposed rule to attack LGBTQ+ individuals’ access to HUD-assisted housing and shelters.
Mandates that HUD-funded shelters discriminate against and exclude transgender people from facilities with shared sleeping or bathroom facilities, and permits facilities to conduct invasive inquiries to verify the “sex” of unhoused people seeking services. Facilities that fail to comply with the mandate risk losing their HUD funding, even if they are in compliance with more protective state and local laws.
Removes the existing language from federal regulations that protects individuals and families from discrimination in HUD-assisted housing based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
Removes the words “gender” and “gender identity” everywhere they appear in HUD regulations and replaces them with the word “sex,” which HUD defines in terms of reproductive physiology.
The proposed rule is open for public comment until June 29, 2026. We need your help to protect #HousingWithDignity! Submit a public comment in opposition using the public comment portal and tools produced by our partners at Trans Advocates for Equality. Here are two ways to take action today:
Defending the Equal Access Rule: Strategies and Considerations for Public Comment. Submit a public comment in opposition using the public comment portal and tools produced by our partners at Trans Advocates for Equality. This webpage provides some context, considerations, and suggested TPs for shelters/providers submitting comments.
Alliance Equal Access Rule Survey. The Alliance is conducting a survey of homeless service providers to better understand the anticipated impacts of HUD’s recent proposal, which primarily removes protections from the Equal Access Rule. Responses will support our ability to accurately inform decision-makers of the impacts of these proposed changes.
https://endhomelessness.org/resources/policy-information/huds-equal-access-rule/