The 2015 US Trans Survey said that thirty percent of the respondents said they were homeless at one point in their life.
Only seventeen states have protection for us in housing, in the rest of the states we could be refused shelters or forced to shelter in shelters of our birth gender and their non-discrimination might be voided out by the feds because of “religious freedom” to discriminate.
I only know about Connecticut’s efforts to integrate shelters which has been extensive and has been ongoing for at least three years. Training has been done to all the shelters’ management staff and the 211 operators. But one of the problems is the high turnover of their staff and are they training the staff below the supervisor level, they know what is right thing to do, it is now a question of are they following the law?
There was a question about the city of Hartford hiring a religious organization that has a history of discrimination of trans people to run the city’s shelters and warming centers. The city said in a letter that the contract says that they have to obey all city and state non-discrimination laws and that they monitor the performance of the organization, that they have not received any discrimination complaints.
Transgender homeless Americans find few protections in the lawAnd it is only getting worst…
Transgender people experience high rates of discrimination in housing and shelter services.
The Chicago Reporter
By Jonah DeChants
December 19, 2019
Ben Carson, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, made news earlier this year for his statements about transgender people.
In a September meeting with HUD staff, Carson remarked that he was concerned about “big, hairy men” trying to use women’s shelters. It is reported that his comments upset the HUD staff in attendance, causing one women to leave the room in protest.
Carson later doubled down on his comments in a congressional hearing, declining to apologize and saying “I think this whole concept of political correctness – you can say this, you can’t say that, you can’t repeat what someone said – is total foolishness.”
While his comments demonstrate a lack of understanding of the needs of transgender people, his agency’s moves to remove protections represent a real threat for transgender Americans who need shelter.
In a September meeting with HUD staff, Carson remarked that he was concerned about “big, hairy men” trying to use women’s shelters. It is reported that his comments upset the HUD staff in attendance, causing one women to leave the room in protest.On the federal level it is getting worst but what about on the state level?
Only seventeen states have protection for us in housing, in the rest of the states we could be refused shelters or forced to shelter in shelters of our birth gender and their non-discrimination might be voided out by the feds because of “religious freedom” to discriminate.
I only know about Connecticut’s efforts to integrate shelters which has been extensive and has been ongoing for at least three years. Training has been done to all the shelters’ management staff and the 211 operators. But one of the problems is the high turnover of their staff and are they training the staff below the supervisor level, they know what is right thing to do, it is now a question of are they following the law?
There was a question about the city of Hartford hiring a religious organization that has a history of discrimination of trans people to run the city’s shelters and warming centers. The city said in a letter that the contract says that they have to obey all city and state non-discrimination laws and that they monitor the performance of the organization, that they have not received any discrimination complaints.
Is there not a little irony here? It is the attitude and expressed disdain in Dr. Carson's statements that could well be a factor in the cause of a trans woman to be without shelter, in the first place. I'm not a big fan of political correctness, myself, as I would rather that all people be granted the same human rights by law. There will always be those who have little, or no, human decency, and although their words may be hurtful, equality in human rights laws would render those words ineffective. The James Baldwin quote you have on the right side of the page says it all: "We can disagree and still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist."
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