The recently proposed rule leaves communities behind.
In response to litigation Democracy Forward and others brought during the Trump administration, HHS recently issued a proposed rule which prohibits discrimination in some grant programs.
The rule, however, only applies protections to the extent defined by the programs’ statutes. Since many HHS grant programs are authorized by statutes that lack explicit prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of religion or sex—including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics—there are still more protections that HHS could include to protect more people.
A coalition of advocacy groups for children and other marginalized communities is fighting back.
This proposed rule leaves the LGBTQI+ community, religious communities, and nonreligious people at risk of discrimination when participating in those grant programs, including foster care and adoption services. Discrimination against these communities is ongoing and causes real harm without further intervention.
We submitted a comment on behalf of a coalition of advocacy groups for children & other marginalized communities making clear that HHS has the authority to implement additional protections in order not to leave these communities behind in their final rule.
Previously, we sued the Trump Administration for refusing to enforce and then removing Obama-era non-discrimination protections for HHS grants.
On behalf of Family Equality, True Colors United, and SAGE, we filed suit with Lambda Legal to challenge the Trump administration’s unlawful refusal to enforce the nondiscrimination protections in HHS grant programs, which would have implicitly permitted grantees to discriminate when providing critical services. Read more about that case.
Additionally when the Trump administration tried to removed the protections, on behalf of Facing Foster Care in Alaska, Family Equality, True Colors United, and SAGE, we filed suit with Lambda Legal and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP to continue our ongoing fight to overturn the Trump administration’s legacy of illegal and harmful rollbacks of non-discrimination protections. Read more about that case.