Singleton Resolution Condemns HUD Proposal to Weaken Protections for Homeless Transgender Persons Clears Committee

Trenton – A resolution sponsored by Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee Chair Senator Troy Singleton, which would condemn the US Department of Housing and Urban Development proposal to weaken protections for homeless transgender persons, cleared the Senate Urban and Community Affairs Committee today.

“The 2012 Equal Access Rule barred federal housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Yet, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to scrap this rule to allow shelters to deny access to transgender Americans,” said Senator Singleton (D-Burlington). “It is appalling and we cannot stand by and allow this to happen.  Shelter is a basic human necessity – regardless of one’s gender identity or sexual orientation.”

Recently, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, announced a proposal to weaken Obama-era protections for homeless transgender people by allowing federally-funded homeless shelters the ability to deny people admission based on religious grounds. According to HUD’s website, the proposal would also force transgender women to share bathrooms and sleeping quarters with men.

The resolution, SCR-167, was released from committee by a vote of 5-0.