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 Related Articles RuPaul s Drag Race star Jiggly Caliente dies at Man convicted of murdering transgender woman in East Bay after DNA hit Bucking a state trend Santa Clara County will keep its plan restricting excursion to states with anti-LGBTQ laws SJSU s Blaire Fleming sheds light on her tumultuous senior season as a trans athlete Minnesota attorney general files preemptive lawsuit against Trump on transgender sports ban I just felt like I was being terrorized Webster informed 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 explained he pushed the manager back Four months later he was homeless Webster filed a complaint with the U S Department of Housing and Urban Progress s Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity office the agency tasked with inspecting 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 episode 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 company have moved swiftly and strategically to undo uproot and remake the agency s decades of work and priorities 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 executive out of the way of what the Lord established from the beginning when he created man in his own image male and female Turner reported 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 guidelines was expanded in to cover transgender people seeking help at federally funded crisis 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 noted 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 His rent was initially less than per month he declared 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 disclosed 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 revealed 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 uncovered his door kicked in and his belongings trashed even though he declared he was up to date on his rent and never received an official eviction notice Gone were his king-size bed dishes Social Prevention 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 episode filed against Webster in April cited repeated unsuccessful efforts to serve him After he was gone the situation 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 commented 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 accusations in court filings Stephen Strum the attorney representing the building declined the AP s requests for comment on the HUD affair and declared the pending lawsuit merely alleges that my client did not properly follow the policies for evicting To Doman Webster s matter reflects a larger trend A lot of people that would have particular recourse at least through HUD researching really are just out on their own now she revealed It s going to be harder for trans people to find safe stable housing and it s very hard already Closure of Webster s affair is just one of a great number of 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 revealed letters were then issued closing the cases for lack of jurisdiction HUD has not disclosed how plenty of cases have been dropped Webster s letter and another provided to the AP cite Trump s executive order calling for the federal regime 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 announced Morris who described the closures as very much consistent with this administration s broader attacks on trans people and on civil rights more broadly Inquired about protocol changes concerning transgender discrimination HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett disclosed the agency was enforcing the Fair Housing Act while implementing Trump s executive order restoring biological truth to the federal establishment In a message citing Trump s order she commented ruling body approach 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 Medical Women s Center when Gonzalez was notified they had to go because he disclosed he was a transgender man I wasn t about to go back into the closet the -year-old explained 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 stated for greater safety for the children and because he feared for his safety as a trans man in a men s shelter various of which don t accept children anyway The city had no domestic violence shelters for men mentioned 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 announced Gonzalez who did not have a car I had to call a friend who was able to let us stay for the night Jackson declared Bridgeway received HUD funding and that its plan of barring transgender men was a violation of the Equal Access Rule and straight up sex discrimination Jackson explained 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 exposed 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 a few 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 pitfall disclosed Ann Olivia CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness Specific shelters that might have served them in the past are becoming less welcoming now amid upheaval with the Equal Access Rule Olivia commented Folks who are trans just won t go if they don t think that they re going to be treated with respect she disclosed 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 sought 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 anticipated vulnerabilities on their website something she stated majority of 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 sparse 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 quota because of the uncertainty Kayla Gore executive director of My Sistah s House explained it can do that because it doesn t take federal funding People are confused Gore declared 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 reported People they do hateful things If you legalize them to hating then they feel like they have a right