The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on April 28, 2026, proposed to redefine housing access and anti-discrimination protections for members of the LGBTQ+ community under the agency’s Equal Access Rule.

The proposal could have harmful impacts on transgender older adults and other members of the LGBTQ+ community throughout single-sex housing and services spaces, like homeless shelters funded through HUD’s Continuum of Care program and Emergency Solutions Grants, or group homes funded through HUD Section 811 or the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program.

The proposal also removes critical anti-discrimination protections broadly across HUD programs, including Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly. HUD is accepting comments on the proposed rulemaking until June 29 through the Federal Register. LeadingAge will work with members to respond to the proposal and to highlight the potential for harmful impacts on older adults.

Origins of the Proposal

The proposed rulemaking comes in response to President Trump’s Executive Order, issued on January 20, 2025, titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” HUD Secretary Scott Turner had previously directed the agency to immediately stop enforcing protections under the Equal Access Rule.

In 2025, LeadingAge filed a statement for the record with the White House’s regulatory review department regarding the pending proposed rule, the text of which had not yet been made public. In our statement, LeadingAge urged HUD to prioritize the need for secure, stable access to housing and services for all older adults, including LGBTQ older adults.

Details of the Proposed Rule

Specifically, the proposed rule would rescind the current requirement that individuals seeking access to single-sex facilities, such as emergency shelters with shared bedrooms or bathrooms, be placed and accommodated in accordance with their gender identity rather than sex assigned at birth.

The proposed rule also removes prohibitions on housing and service providers from seeking information to confirm the sex of an individual seeking services.

More broadly, the rulemaking proposes that the definition of and all references to “gender identity” and “gender” be removed throughout HUD’s regulations and replaced with “sex” to refer to a person’s “biological classification as either male or female” at conception, per the Executive Order. The definition change would remove LGBTQ+ protections within non-discrimination policies, reporting and recordkeeping, and other provisions throughout HUD programs, including Section 8, Section 202, Public Housing, fair housing enforcement, mortgage programs, community development programs, and programs to help people who are experiencing homelessness or domestic violence.

Lastly, the proposed rule considers preempting certain conflicting state or local laws and says that violations of the new policy could lead to loss of federal funding for housing and services providers.