By Gabby Ross, NLIHC
In April 2023, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) released an LGBTQIA+ Fair Housing Toolkit. This toolkit was designed to educate housing providers, tenants, applicants, and other housing consumers on LGBTQIA+ fair housing protections to advance housing equity for the LGBTQIA+ community. The toolkit was created in response to President Biden’s January 2021 executive order requiring federal agencies to assess measures taken to prohibit sex discrimination and fully enforce statutes combatting such discrimination. Prior to the President’s executive order, a U.S. Supreme Court decision determined that “sex” discrimination, as outlined in the “Fair Housing Act,” also includes sexual orientation and gender identity.
The toolkit is separated into five modules: LGBTQIA+ Protections, Inclusive Communication, Fair Housing in Your Daily Operations as a Housing Provider, Developing Inclusive Housing Practices that Support LGBTQIA+ Individuals, and Reporting Discrimination. The five sections are meant to provide broad training on rights, best practices, and policies that support the implementation of non-discrimination policies and practices relating to LGBTQ+ people.
Across the U.S., support for harmful anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has grown rapidly, with over 80 bills having been passed this year alone, and 45 of these already becoming law. These pieces of legislation aim to strip away legal protections, leading to more state-sanctioned discrimination and violence against people in the LGBTQ+ community. Organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, the National LGBTQ Task Force, and SAGE USA are doing vital advocacy work and providing important resources to the community. As states continue to introduce anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, it is especially important that additional federal protections are put in place to prevent people in the LGBTQ+ community from experiencing discrimination when accessing resources, especially when trying to access housing. FHEO’s toolkit is one step forward in ensuring these protections are enforced.
HUD’s LGBTQIA+ Fair Housing Toolkit:
- Discusses ways housing providers can prevent housing discrimination in their daily operations.
- Introduces housing providers to culturally competent definitions and terminology used when discussing sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Describes the specific protected housing rights of LGBTQ+ individuals.
- Summarizes HUD’s Equal Access rule.
- Provides an overview of key fair housing laws, regulations, and executive orders related to LGBTQIA+ protections.
- Provides detailed information on how and when an individual can report housing discrimination.