Proposed rule · 2026-08244

Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Revisions

This proposed rule would harmonize HUD's existing Equal Access regulations with the directions of the Executive Order titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government." The rule would remove references to "gender" and "gender identity" from HUD regulations, or remove and replace it with "sex," as defined by the Executive Order. Through these revisions, the rule would ensure equal access to qualifying facilities would be provided in accordance with the sex of an individual based on his or her immutable biological classification as either male or female rather than the ever-shifting concept of self- assessed gender identity. It would also provide grant recipients, subrecipients, owners, operators, managers, and providers under HUD programs that permit single-sex or sex-specific facilities (such as temporary, emergency shelters or other facilities with physical limitations or configurations that require and are permitted to have shared sleeping quarters or bathrooms) the ability to require reasonable assurances and evidence to confirm the sex of an individual seeking service in order to protect the safety of other individuals in the facility.