This Pride Month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is seeking to implement major changes to the Equal Access Rule (EAR), a policy that has protected access to programs, shelters, and services regardless of gender for over a decade. First established in 2012 to ensure family members, regardless of gender, could access the same shelters, HUD expanded and finalized the rule in 2016 to include explicit protections for the LGBTQ+ community. In addition to outlining anti-discrimination policies, EAR requires all recipients of HUD funding to provide equal access to facilities and services in accordance with an individual’s gender identity. This rule has been instrumental in providing safe shelter for LGBTQ+ people and in codifying HUD’s expanded definition of family.  

In January 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Government,” which directed the HUD secretary to rescind EAR. The following month, newly appointed HUD secretary, Scott Turner, released an order halting the enforcement of EAR. Despite Secretary Turner’s order, EAR remained in effect while HUD pursued legal channels to officially repeal the rule. On April 28, 2026, HUD released an official proposal that would significantly weaken EAR and rescind vital protections for the LGBTQ+ community, especially transgender and gender-expansive individuals. HUD’s proposal reflects the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to dismantle protections and restrict rights for transgender individuals. These changes to EAR will not only exacerbate existing disparities for LGBTQ+ people, but have the potential to put lives at risk. 

What are HUD’s Proposed Changes and What Could they Mean? 

A large portion of HUD’s proposed changes focus on removing inclusive language, including all references to gender identity and sexual orientation. The proposal redefines “sex” as an “immutable biological classification as either male or female,” and provides new definitions for other terms such as “mother,” “father,” “boy,” and “girl”. Beyond terminology, the changes require that all recipients of HUD funding, including shelters and other homelessness service providers, assign individuals to programs and shelters according to HUD’s definition of sex. Providers could also be permitted to gather “evidence to establish a person’s sex,” to verify a person’s sex and could risk losing HUD funding if they fail to comply, regardless if these regulations conflict with state or local laws. Finally, and perhaps the most consequential aspect of the proposal, is the elimination of protections against discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation. 

Discrimination is a driving force of LGBTQ+ housing insecurity, particularly for LGBTQ+ youth, who are 120 percent more likely to experience homelessness than their straight or cisgender peers. Newly released data from the 2022 US Transgender Survey reveals that transgender individuals face additional barriers and discrimination. The survey revealed that nearly one in three respondents has experienced homelessness during their lifetime, a number eight times the rate of the general population. For Indigenous and Black individuals, these disparities were even greater, with 50 percent and 39 percent experiencing homelessness, respectively. Researchers also found that transgender people who experienced familial rejection, discrimination, or violence, were much more likely to become homeless than those without this life history. Conversely, when transgender individuals became unhoused, 58 percent reported that they were denied access to shelter due to their gender. These statistics highlight the key role discrimination plays in precipitating homelessness and how integral EAR is to protecting the LGBTQ+ community’s access to programs and services. 

HUD’s proposed changes to EAR will compound existing disparities, exclude people from accessing services, increase unsheltered homelessness, and place individuals in dangerous situations. From the perspective of providers, these invasive regulations will place an even greater burden on already strained resources. Ultimately, centering affordable housing and homelessness policy on enforcing LGBTQ+ discrimination diverts focus from real solutions to ending homelessness in the US. At Housing Up, we believe everyone, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation, deserves access to safe and affordable housing. While these proposed changes to EAR are alarming, they are not yet legally-binding. There is still time to send a comment to HUD before the period ends on June 29. This Pride Month, stand with Housing Up and the LGBTQ+ community. Let’s advocate together to achieve fair and equitable housing for all. Click here to leave your comment while there is still time.