Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and 11 other Democratic senators introduced on June 27 the “Ensuring Equal Access to Shelter Act” (S. 2007) that would block a HUD proposed rule to weaken the enforcement of its Equal Access Rule, which provides important protections for LGBTQ people experiencing homelessness and seeking emergency shelter. This legislation is a Senate companion to a bill (H.R. 3018) passed out of the House Financial Services Committee on June 11 (see Memo 6/17).
Weakening the Equal Access Rule and its enforcement mechanisms is unacceptable. Access to shelter is a basic, fundamental necessity. LGBTQ youth are more than twice as likely to experience homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers, and black LGBTQ youth have the highest rates of youth homelessness. One in three transgender people will experience homelessness in their lifetime, and 70% of trans people who have used a shelter have experienced harassment.
“Senator Schatz’s legislation is needed to stop the administration’s proposal to eliminate critical protections for LGBTQ people experiencing homelessness and seeking emergency shelter – a move that will literally put lives at risk,” said NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel in Senator Shatz’s press release about the bill. “LGBTQ individuals, and especially youth, disproportionately experience homelessness in our country. By weakening the Equal Access Rule to allow federally-funded shelter providers to discriminate against LGBTQ people, HUD is abandoning its mission to end homelessness and ensure vulnerable people have a safe and decent home. We stand ready to work with Congress to enact this important legislation.”
Learn more about the bill at: https://tinyurl.com/yycytfxv
Read Senator Schatz’s full press release at: https://tinyurl.com/y6rn2nx8