Comment Submitted by Kass Greenberg

I am writing to strongly oppose the proposed changes to the Equal Access Rule issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This proposal would remove critical protections that ensure fair and equal access to housing and services, particularly for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people. By redefining “sex” in a restrictive way and allowing providers to require documentation or proof, the rule opens the door to discrimination, denial of services, and unsafe conditions for people seeking housing assistance. This does not even get into the fact that even when our communities can provide such documentation, it is often refused or questioned. Notably, since Kansas implemented its law requiring trans people to have their AGAB on their documentation, a trans woman was charged with operating a vehicle without a valid license, all because she had followed the law, as written, and had updated her documentation so that her license said that she was a male. Despite obeying the law, she faced the same consequences that she would have for disobeying the law completely. If the government pursues these changes, they open the door to many similar situations and to the arbitrary enforcement of the law against transgender people, using it as a bludgeon to force us out of public life. This is particularly horrifying in the context of housing services, which our community needs frequent access to due to the well-documented discrimination we face that leads to housing insecurity. These proposed changes to the Equal Access Rule do not add clarity, accuracy, or accessibility - the only purpose they serve is allowing for discrimination against trans and intersex folks, and the larger LGBTQ+ community. Sincerely, Kass