Women’s shelters must admit ‘transgender’ men: Obama admin rule
Women’s shelters must admit men who say they are “transgender” if they receive federal funding, according to a new regulation imposed by the Obama administration . The administration stripped out a provision that would allow shelters to deny a biological male access to the women’s facilities, under narrow circumstances, if they felt it would endanger women’s “health and safety.” The requirement applies to federally funded faith-based shelters and homeless facilities, as well. “Today, we take another important step to ensure full acceptance of transgender and gender nonconforming individuals in the programs HUD supports,” said Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro on Tuesday when the rule, originally proposed last October , was finalized. The final rule erased a measure that would have let shelters, which often protect women and children from their abusers, refuse to house a man in a women’s shelter based on safety concerns on a “case-by-case basis.”