HOUSING
HUD Takes Aim at Anti-LGBTQ Discrimination
Under new administration, agency vows to review backlog of complaints
BY MATT TRACY
In accordance with one of President Joe
Biden’s early executive orders, the Department
of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) is cracking down on housing
discrimination targeting LGBTQ individuals.
The federal agency will probe cases pertaining
to housing discrimination on the basis
sexual orientation and gender identity and interpret
the Fair Housing Act’s ban on sex discrimination
to include discrimination against
LGBTQ folks, according to a memorandum unveiled
on February 11.
“Housing discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation and gender identity demands urgent
enforcement action,” Jeanine M. Worden,
who serves as the acting assistant secretary
of HUD’s Offi ce of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity,
said in a written statement. “That is
why HUD, under the Biden Administration, will
fully enforce the Fair Housing Act to prohibit
discrimination on the basis of gender identity or
sexual orientation. Every person should be able
to secure a roof over their head free from discrimination,
and the action we are taking today
will move us closer to that goal.”
States, local jurisdictions, organizations, and
agencies receiving funding through HUD’s Fair
Housing Assistance Program also must interpret
the Fair Housing Act to include a ban on
LGBTQ discrimination.
Notably, the new directive is retroactive.
HUD’s Offi ce of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
will review allegations of discrimination
dating back to January 20 of last year.
HUD’s latest moves follow Biden’s executive
order directing federal agencies to follow the
Supreme Court ruling from last June stipulating
that workers should be protected on the
basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Federal courts are expected to eventually interpret
that ruling’s scope to extend beyond the
workplace, but in the meantime, Biden directed
agencies to broadly interpret federal sex discrimination
laws to include sexual orientation
and gender identity.
“Enforcing the Fair Housing Act to combat
housing discrimination based on sexual orientation
and gender identity isn’t just the right
thing to do-it’s the correct reading of the law
after Bostock,” Damon Y. Smith, HUD’s principal
deputy general counsel, noted in a written
statement. “We are simply saying that the
same discrimination that the Supreme Court
has said is illegal in the workplace is also illegal
in the housing market.”
The swift changes at HUD — which is led
Marcia Fudge, who was nominated to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is awaiting fi nal Senate confi rmation.
by acting HUD Secretary Matt Ammon until
Marcia Fudge receives fi nal Senate confi rmation
— represent a signifi cant departure from
the Trump administration, which fought to allow
federally funded shelters to ban transgender
and gender non-conforming individuals or
force folks to live with people who did not share
their gender identity.
Several LGBTQ groups praised the Biden administration’s
memorandum within hours after
the announcement.
“Homelessness and housing insecurity are
critical issues for many LGBTQ people – particularly
transgender individuals who often face
serious bias and barriers to fi nding safe and secure
housing,” Shannon Minter, the legal director
at the National Center for Lesbian Rights,
said in a written statement. “This guidance
makes clear that federal law prevents federally
funded shelters from turning people away
because of their sexual orientation or gender
REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR
identity, as well as addressing anti-LGBTQ discrimination
in all other areas of federal housing
law.”
Karen Loewy, senior counsel and seniors
strategist at Lambda Legal, also hailed the
Biden administration’s efforts to eradicate
housing discrimination.
“Lambda Legal applauds this step by the
Biden Administration to make the promise of
equal housing opportunity real for LGBTQ people
across the country,” Loewy said in a written
statement.
Loewy added, “As our housing work has demonstrated
and the Bostock decision confi rmed,
the harassment and discrimination that LGBTQ
people face in housing are forms of sex
discrimination that federal law will not tolerate.
These actions by HUD will both prevent future
discrimination and ensure that those who have
experienced discrimination have a clear avenue
for relief.”
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