National
HUD: Religious groups must abide by LGBT non-bias rule
Frank praises administration’s ‘important policy’

A Department of Housing & Urban Development official said Monday religious institutions receiving federal funds for housing programs will have to abide by a new HUD rule prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people.
John TrasviƱa, assistant secretary forĀ Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, confirmed the rule would impact religious institutions during a conference callĀ in response to a question from the Washington Blade, saying, “All HUD housing providers are covered under this rule.”
Asked to clarify whether these providers include religious institutions,Ā TrasviƱa replied, “Yes.”
Ian Thompson, the ACLU’s legislative representative, first wrote inĀ a blog postingĀ on the ACLU’s siteĀ last week that the rule will cover religious institutions that receive money for federal programs.
“[T]he rule will requireĀ allĀ organizations that operate HUD-assisted or HUD-insured housing facilities to serve LGBT Americans looking for shelter and housing ā including religious organizations,” Thompson said. “[O]nce a religious organization chooses to provide housing services or programs with the aid of federal funds and benefits from HUD, it cannot shield itself from traditional safeguards that protect civil rights in the provision of those services.”
Thompson added that religious organizations providing entirely private housing services are unaffected by the change.
“We are pleased that HUD said that all organizations must provide equal access to HUD housing programs and did not sanction the use of religion to discriminate,” Thompson concluded.
The rule,Ā first proposed in January, covers programs serving an estimated 5.5 million Americans, including those living in low-income subsidized housing.
The measure, which has four general components, requires owners and operators ofĀ HUD-assisted housing to make housing available to applicants and occupants regardless of their LGBT status.
The rule clarifies āfamiliesā otherwise eligible for HUD programs canāt be excluded because of one or more members of the family’s sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status.
Additionally, the rule prohibits owners and operators of HUD-assisted housing or housing whose financing is insured by HUD from inquiring about the sexual orientation or gender identity of an applicant or occupant of a dwelling, whether renter or owner-occupied.
TrasviƱa said HUD clarified this provision doesn’t prohibit voluntary and anonymous reporting of LGBT status in state, local or federal data collection requirements.
Additionally, the measure has a bearing onĀ mortgage insurance programs.Ā It prohibits lenders from using LGBT status as a basis to determine a borrowerās eligibility for Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgage financing.
“These days, when one-third of new homebuyers are served by FHA lenders, this last element to make sure that one’s sexual orientation or gender identity is not a basis for denying an FHA loan is critically important to America’s families,”Ā TrasviƱa said.
TrasviƱa added that rule is “governed as a HUD program rule,” so, unlike the Fair Housing Act provision, HUD offices throughout the country will enforce it and not just the Office of Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced on Saturday during a speech at the 24th annual Creating Change conference that HUD would this week make final the rule by publishing it in the Federal Register. On Monday, the department published the text of the final regulation.
TrasviƱa confirmed that the Federal Register would publish the rule this week, but in response to another Blade question said he couldn’t give a more definitive time for when the rule will be published.
“That’s a little bit out of our control,”Ā TrasviƱa said. “Typically, the rules get printed within a week once they’re submitted, so the rule has been submitted, we’re just waiting for its publication.”
Trasviña noted that publication of the rule will start the 30-day period before the measure will go into effect and expects the measure to go into effect starting in March.
In a statement provided by HUD, gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) commended the department for implementing the change, saying āI am grateful to the Obama administration for instituting this important policy.”
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.
According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.
The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.
The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city ā if not the world ā the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.
In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out ā and throw bottles if need be ā at officers attempting to suppress their existence.
The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first āGay Pride Marchā in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.
New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.
āAfter decades of peaceful Pride celebrations ā this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,ā the lesbian lawmaker said on X. āGuns are a problem despite the NRA BS.ā
New York
Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade
Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.
The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”
“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.
Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”
His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trumpās assault on trans rights.
“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”
“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”
U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court upholds ACA rule that makes PrEP, other preventative care free
Liberal justices joined three conservatives in majority opinion

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a portion of the Affordable Care Act requiring private health insurers to cover the cost of preventative care including PrEP, which significantly reduces the risk of transmitting HIV.
Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored the majority opinion in the case, Kennedy v. Braidwood Management. He was joined by two conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, along with the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown-Jackson.
The courtās decision rejected the plaintiffsā challenge to the Affordable Care Actās reliance on the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force to “unilaterally” determine which types of care and services must be covered by payors without cost-sharing.
An independent all-volunteer panel of nationally recognized experts in prevention and primary care, the 16 task force members are selected by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to serve four-year terms.
They are responsible for evaluating the efficacy of counseling, screenings for diseases like cancer and diabetes, and preventative medicines ā like Truvada for PrEP, drugs to reduce heart disease and strokes, and eye ointment for newborns to prevent infections.
Parties bringing the challenge objected especially to the mandatory coverage of PrEP, with some arguing the drugs would “encourage and facilitate homosexual behavior” against their religious beliefs.
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