WASHINGTON — The new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development announced Thursday that he is halting enforcement of an Obama-era rule that would allow men who identify as women in spaces designated for women.
HUD published the 2016 Equal Access Rule to “ensure that all individuals have equal access to many of the Department’s core shelter programs in accordance with their gender identity.” This meant that a man who identified as a woman could access a HUD shelter program intended only for women.
Given that women’s shelters are often the only refuge for women fleeing domestic abuse or violence, advocates have warned for years that allowing men in these spaces presents a very real danger for the female occupants. For example, nine homeless women sued a Fresno, California women’s shelter in 2018, accusing the shelter of doing nothing when a man who identified as a woman used…
