In battle against transgender rights, Trump targets HUD’s housing policies

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and SALLY HO Associated Press As a transgender man the words you re a girl gutted Tazz Webster a taunt hurled at him from the day he moved into his St Louis apartment The government-subsidized building s manager also insisted on calling Webster by the wrong name the -year-old mentioned and ridiculed him with shouts of You re not a real man I just felt like I was being terrorized Webster recounted The Associated Press I felt that I was being judged and mistreated like I was less of a human being Then one day in March the manager shoved Webster so hard he stumbled backward After regaining his balance Webster declared he pushed the manager back Four months later he was homeless Webster filed a complaint with the U S Department of Housing and Urban Evolution s Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity office the agency tasked with studying housing discrimination and enforcing the landmark Fair Housing Act that guarantees equal access to housing for all Americans Webster s harassment allegation was serious enough that it was investigated for more than two years until the office suddenly notified him in February it was dropping his circumstance without a finding citing lack of jurisdiction The timing of the closure was not a coincidence In the months since President Donald Trump took back the White House and installed a loyalist to lead the federal housing department HUD Secretary Scott Turner and his organization have moved swiftly and strategically to undo uproot and remake the agency s decades of work and priorities Secretary of Housing and Urban Growth Scott Turner arrives for a National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden of the White House Thursday May in Washington AP Photo Alex Brandon In the crosshairs is an intense focus on transgender people as HUD retreats from long-established fair-housing protections by closing their discrimination complaints and more broadly moving to undo the Obama-era Equal Access Rule that cemented transgender people s rights to discrimination protection in housing It s time to get rid of all the far-left gender ideology and get authorities out of the way of what the Lord established from the beginning when he created man in his own image male and female Turner announced in announcing in February that he was halting enforcement of the Equal Access Rule Sex discrimination in the Fair Housing Act At issue is the fact that discrimination against LGBTQ people wasn t specifically cited in the Fair Housing Act But the Equal Access Rule enacted in under former President Barack Obama further defined sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity The initiative was expanded in to cover transgender people seeking help at federally funded urgency shelters escalating opposition from the right In the first Trump administration unsuccessfully moved to relieve shelters of any obligation to serve transgender people Now advocates fear an emboldened Trump will go further and forbid shelters from accommodating gender identity altogether as his administration announces unspecified revisions to the Equal Access Rule Our protections can t be a pingpong ball that changes every four years disclosed Seran Gee an attorney for Advocates for Trans Equality Everything Webster owned was trashed After being left with permanent injuries in a car crash Webster who survives on disability payments was grateful to move in April into an apartment near the city s -acre -hectare Forest Park scene of the World s Fair and home to museums and a zoo Related Articles Trump directs Bureau of Prisons to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz Can he do that Federal Reserve likely to defy Trump keep rates unchanged this week Trump s business demands go beyond tariffs to target perceived unfair practices Trump threatens a tariff on foreign-made films saying the movie industry in the US is dying Lucas Democrats need their own Donald Trump His rent was initially less than per month he announced That is because Branscome Apartments had a contract with the federal establishment to provide subsidized housing to people with disabilities and low-income seniors But the HUD money also comes with strings declared Linda Morris staff attorney for the ACLU s Women s Rights Project who leads the organization s housing discrimination work The Equal Access Rule applies to HUD-funded programs and shelters commented Morris who doesn t represent Webster If an entity is going to accept federal funding they have to comply Under the rule HUD-funded housing and programs must provide equal access to everyone regardless of gender identity and can t require intrusive questioning Four months after the shoving happening Webster exposed his door kicked in and his belongings trashed even though he reported he was up to date on his rent and never received an official eviction notice Gone were his king-size bed dishes Social Protection card and birth certificate Even worse was the loss of the obituary for his mother who died when he was and her necklace a treasured memento I had nothing reported Webster who had been mostly staying away from the apartment for fear of another run-in with the manager I was so afraid to be there I would go to my friend s house and spent nights at a time and then come back switch my clothes and leave Court records in an eviction event filed against Webster in April cited repeated unsuccessful efforts to serve him After he was gone the affair was dropped Last August Webster filed a lawsuit in Missouri state court alleging he was illegally evicted There was never a court order allowing them to change the locks allowing them to throw away his belongings reported attorney KB Doman of Arch City Defenders an advocacy group representing Webster The suit seeks in property damage and for severe emotional stress and trauma The apartment has denied the charges in court filings Stephen Strum the attorney representing the building declined the AP s requests for comment on the HUD matter and mentioned the pending lawsuit merely alleges that my client did not properly follow the moves for evicting To Doman Webster s scenario reflects a larger trend A lot of people that would have a few recourse at least through HUD studying really are just out on their own now she noted It s going to be harder for trans people to find safe stable housing and it s very hard already Closure of Webster s incident is just one of various HUD attorneys say Since Turner took the helm at HUD the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity has instructed staff to pause investigations of all gender identity discrimination cases according to two HUD attorneys who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs or benefits One reported letters were then issued closing the cases for lack of jurisdiction HUD has not disclosed how multiple cases have been dropped Webster s letter and another provided to the AP cite Trump s executive order calling for the federal ruling body to define sex as only male or female Morris of the ACLU announced she has never seen an executive order cited in a jurisdictional closure of a complaint So that s really alarming stated Morris who described the closures as very much consistent with this administration s broader attacks on trans people and on civil rights more broadly Required about procedures changes concerning transgender discrimination HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett reported the agency was enforcing the Fair Housing Act while implementing Trump s executive order restoring biological truth to the federal authorities In a report citing Trump s order she announced governing body procedures recognizes two sexes that are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality A nationwide federal push to erase trans identity Bea Gonzalez a transgender man was kicked out of a suburban St Louis domestic violence shelter on a chilly night in November along with his three children then and The family was just settling into a room after filling out paperwork at Bridgeway Behavioral Healthcare Women s Center when Gonzalez was informed they had to go because he disclosed he was a transgender man Bea Gonzalez a transgender man who was kicked out of a domestic violence shelter in November along with his three children poses for a photo April in St Louis AP Photo Jeff Roberson I wasn t about to go back into the closet the -year-old declared of his insistence on telling the truth even after it was suggested he keep his trans identity secret He needed a domestic violence shelter he mentioned for greater safety for the children and because he feared for his safety as a trans man in a men s shelter specific of which don t accept children anyway The city had no domestic violence shelters for men revealed his attorney Kalila Jackson In the St Louis metropolitan area there was no place else for him to go There were no other options The family was sent to a motel but when they arrived they discovered it hadn t been paid for and the organization that sent them there was closed So I was stranded noted Gonzalez who did not have a car I had to call a friend who was able to let us stay for the night Jackson explained Bridgeway received HUD funding and that its procedures of barring transgender men was a violation of the Equal Access Rule and straight up sex discrimination Jackson declared the message the shelter sent was this You re biologically a girl you should dress as a girl Since you say that you are a man we are not going to accept you here HUD didn t address Gonzalez s or Webster s complaints when the AP sought comment on their cases HUD investigated Gonzalez s complaint for years until it suddenly notified him in March the agency was dropping it without a finding The company operating the shelter Preferred Family Healthcare did not respond to the AP s requests for comment After days of being shuttled between six shelters in six cities in two states Missouri and Illinois Gonzalez ultimately ascertained stable housing where his children live with him part time He sees what happened as part of what he describes as a nationwide federal push to erase trans identity Shelters struggle to comply with Trump directives Advocates are concerned by HUD s shift noting high rates of discrimination and homelessness among people who are LGBTQ Nearly one-third of trans people say they have been homeless at certain point in their lives while who stayed in a shelter communicated being harassed assaulted or kicked out because of their gender identity according to an Advocates for Trans Equality survey circulated in a year before Obama expanded protections for trans people in shelters Teens who come out to families who aren t accepting are particularly at hazard disclosed Ann Olivia CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness Certain shelters that might have served them in the past are becoming less welcoming now amid upheaval with the Equal Access Rule Olivia disclosed Folks who are trans just won t go if they don t think that they re going to be treated with respect she explained adding that is particularly problematic for young people who are vulnerable to sex traffickers and to other types of abuse Further complicating the situation are seemingly contradictory requirements in new HUD contracts with nonprofits that find permanent housing and run shelters for the homeless One section stipulates they can t promote gender ideology while another requires compliance with anti-discrimination law according to a copy provided to the AP Organizations say they are confused What is promoting gender ideology What does that mean questioned Jeannette Ruffins CEO of Homeward NYC a nonprofit that runs three permanent housing sites for LGBTQ young adults as well as a homeless shelter Does housing LGBTQ young adults promote gender identity she questioned You know they re coming to us This is already their gender identity Like I m not promoting it Ruffins called a board meeting to discuss possible vulnerabilities on their website something she mentioned the majority New York City nonprofits were doing as well Her organization made small changes to their website saying they were LGBTQ affirming and friendly in a minimal places rather than LGBTQ serving hoping that will make them less of a target In Memphis Tennessee a nonprofit that provides exigency shelter for transgender people is looking to increase limit because of the uncertainty Kayla Gore executive director of My Sistah s House reported it can do that because it doesn t take federal funding People are confused Gore commented They don t know what to do because they want to protect their bottom line This is the world Nearly three years after losing his apartment Webster remains homeless staying with friends and sometimes sleeping on the floor He is on a waiting list for subsidized housing because he can t afford rent otherwise But he expects the massive federal funding cuts and Trump administration directives banning diversity equity and inclusion initiatives will make the wait even longer Let s be honest This is the world he noted People they do hateful things If you legalize them to hating then they feel like they have a right