Trump Is Swiftly Undoing Transgender Protections In Hud's Housing Policies

The Trump administration is swiftly remaking housing policy as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development retreats from long-established fair-housing protections for transgender people.

In recent months, HUD has been targeting the Obama-era Equal Access Rule that expanded protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Also in the bull's-eye are fair-housing complaint investigations and federally funded homeless shelters.

"This administration wants to pretend trans people don't exist," said Hannah Adams, a senior staff attorney at the National Housing Law Project. "Whatever they're doing is not in line with HUD's supposed mission to provide a safety net for families that are struggling in this country."

HUD said in a statement that it is upholding the landmark Fair Housing Act that guarantees equal access to housing for all Americans, as well as implementing what it called Trump's executive order "restoring biological truth to the federal government."

Here are key takeaways about how HUD is taking on the battle over transgender rights.