When Ben Carson, Donald Trump’s first housing and urban development secretary, proposed a rule in 2019 allowing single-sex homeless shelters to turn away transgender people, congressional Democrats were furious.
The Biden administration withdrew the Carson proposal — committing instead to follow an Obama-era regulation that banned federally funded facilities from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity — but trans-rights activists are bracing for Trump’s next HUD secretary to try to finish what Carson started. This time though, it’s unclear how much Democrats would push back if the agency takes similar actions.
Republicans successfully made attacks on transgender rights a centerpiece of the 2024 campaign — leaving Democrats largely flat-footed to such an extent they hardly fought back. House Democrats who spoke with NOTUS were split on whether the party should now prioritize the needs of transgender homeless people in the coming Trump administration, given it’s likely the rule will be reintroduced.
When asked about how Democrats would respond to restrictions for trans homeless people, Rep. Susie Lee, who serves in House Democratic leadership, told NOTUS that “we need to remember that all people need to be treated with respect and dignity,” but that this is “a complicated issue. It’s not a black-and-white issue.”
Rep. Veronica Escobar told NOTUS that fighting back against Republicans when it came to the homeless population should “absolutely” be a priority for Democrats, but then added that “unfortunately, we have a long list of vulnerable populations that are going to be targeted [by the Trump administration]. And so, you know, to say, ‘Should this group be prioritized over another group?’ We just really have to work to protect as many people as possible.”
Rep. Tom Suozzi, a moderate Democrat who has expressed concern about trans athletes participating in women’s and girls sports, said Democrats’ priorities are “the border, and the economy, and inflation and cost of living.”
But he didn’t dismiss concerns regarding trans homelessness, adding that “there are so many other issues that we have to focus on — that’s one of the jobs that we have as legislators — and this is one of them.”
Transgender people are disproportionately impacted by homelessness. Government data has consistently shown that trans people not only have high rates of homelessness, they are more likely to not find any sort of shelter.
Prior to the Obama-era regulation to protect trans homeless people finalized in 2016, 42% of trans people who have sought emergency shelters said they had to be housed with the wrong gender in order to obtain shelter. Among those who stayed in a shelter, 55% reported being harrassed, 25% reported being physically assaulted and 22% reported being sexually assaulted.
A 2019 study found that nondiscrimination laws for trans people did not lead to an increase in the number of crimes in restrooms, locker rooms and dressing rooms, and that reports of privacy or safety violations were “increasingly rare.”
Rep. Mike Quigley, who had multiple confrontations with Carson over the proposed rule and other actions HUD took to remove trans protections, was one House Democrat who expected to be fighting with the Trump administration often over the issue. He told NOTUS he expects “housing policy not to be any better than it was the first time.”
“Unfortunately, I may have similar interactions with the next Trump administration than I did with Secretary Carson,” Quigley said. “There’s an insensitivity, and somehow the trans community is targeted by certain members of the Republican administration and campaigns, which is tragic, unnecessary and bigoted. But we’re going to address it, we’re not going to leave anybody behind.”
House Republicans plan to make anti-trans policy a priority this term — they’re set to vote next week on a bill to ban trans female athletes from participating in “an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.” Trump has also said he will sign executive actions against trans people, including one pressuring Congress to declare there are only two genders — male and female — and that “they are assigned at birth.”
“What we saw during the Trump administration was their attempt to kind of remove trans people and access to trans people from an array of government programs and services. And I think that housing was, of course, one of them,” said Imara Jones, a journalist and trans activist. “They had a dry run in the first administration. They’re going to be able to move much more quickly and in a much more focused fashion because they already had a go at it.”
Rep. Brad Schneider, who has previously introduced the Fair and Equal Housing Act, which would prohibit housing discrimination based on gender identity, told NOTUS he “is sure” the bill will be reintroduced in this Congress, but the concerns around the proposed rule “may have accelerated” the timeline.
Rep. Becca Balint, a co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, told NOTUS that Democrats “have to use our leverage.”
“It’s not enough to say you’re not part of the extremist movement, that only goes so far. You have to show it with your voice and your votes,” Balint added.
However, Democrats have been divided in how strongly they show up for trans rights. Toward the end of the last Congress, 81 House Democrats — including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar — supported the National Defense Authorization Act, which contained a provision banning trans youth from receiving gender-affirming care under the military’s health insurance system that was negotiated into the bill by Republicans.
The Trump transition team did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment on whether Scott Turner, Trump’s pick to be the next HUD secretary, would be interested in bringing back the proposed rule or pursuing a similar one. As a Texas state legislator, Turner had a history of opposing protections for poor tenants and supported anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, such as one opposing gay marriage.
“Look, the Trump administration has announced a whole series of actions that they would like to take that negatively impact the LGBTQ community,” said Sarah Warbelow, vice president of legal at the Human Rights Campaign. She added that the proposed rule on homeless shelters could make a comeback “on a pretty expedited basis” because it is “already written.”
Democrats came under fire during the 2024 campaign for failing to respond to anti-trans rhetoric from Trump and other Republican candidates.
“You’re seeing signs that Democrats are less willing to stand up for trans people because they believe that, because there is an erroneous diagnosis within the party that trans issues are a large contributor as to why the vice president lost the election, which I think is just false,” Jones told NOTUS. “That erroneous misdiagnosis has led to a weakening of people’s willingness to stand up.”
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Oriana González is a reporter at NOTUS.