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Meals on Wheels and other HHS-funded community meal programs designed to support older adults could refuse to deliver food to older Americans who are Jewish, Muslim, or LGBTQ. (Photo: Gabe Souza/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
Trump Wants to Allow Discrimination With Billions of Dollars of Federal Funding
Proposal from Health and Human Services would allow discrimination based on faith—including people who are Jewish, Muslim, Catholic—as well as LGBTQ people.
Nov 05, 2019
Last Friday, the Trump administration announced an alarming new proposal that would strip away critical protections against discrimination in grants funded by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Initially, we thought this proposal would serve to fulfill Trump's promise to give taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies a license to discriminate. This proposal does that --and so much more.
Trump proposes to eliminate existing regulations that prohibit discrimination in HHS grant-funded programs based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion, inviting discrimination against recipients of critical services. Here are just a few examples of the discrimination this rule would allow:
- Meals on Wheels and other HHS-funded community meal programs designed to support older adults could refuse to deliver food to older Americans who are Jewish, Muslim, or LGBTQ.
- Federally funded foster care agencies could refuse to place children with families because of their faith or sexual orientation, regardless of the children's needs.
- Head Start grant recipients and other federally funded child care facilities could refuse to serve children with married same-sex parents or whose parents are of a minority faith. They could also refuse to provide services to transgender youth.
You read all of that right.
Yet no one should be surprised that the Trump administration is proposing such a sweeping change that will allow discrimination in a wide variety of federal programs that play a critical - even life-saving - role in the lives of millions of Americans.
So far this year, the Trump administration has moved to roll back fair housing protections that not only aim to address housing segregation, but also help survivors of domestic violence. Trump's Labor Department wants to give federal contractors a license to discriminate against employees. Immigrants who have a disability, as well as those who may be eligible for public assistance due to their age or income, have also been the subject of attack by the Trump administration. One of the Trump administration's first actions in 2017 was to roll back protections for transgender students and this year, it told college campuses to create a double standard that treats discrimination on the basis of sex different from discrimination on the basis of race.
This isn't even the first proposal from HHS. The Department has proposed to eliminate protections from discrimination in health care that have been crucial to transgender people, women and many others. It is also working to allow hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices to be able to refuse care based on the provider's religious beliefs.
Just one month ago, the Trump administration stood before the Supreme Court and said that firing someone for being LGBTQ should be perfectly legal as well.
What gives me hope is that ACLU supporters are fighting back. Supporters have taken more than 130,000 actions to stop federal agencies from enacting Trump's previous attempts to open the door to discrimination and will soon have the chance to comment directly on the latest discriminatory proposal.
The comment period for this proposal to allow discrimination through HHS will be open for 30 days once the rule is published in the Federal Register, which could be any day.
Whether Trump is trying to rollback long-standing nondiscrimination protections, permit discrimination in the name of religion, or allow taxpayer-funded discrimination like Friday's proposal, the ACLU will continue to fight back.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
© 2023 ACLU
Louise Melling
Louise Melling (@LibertyLouise) is a Deputy Legal Director of the ACLU and the Director of its Center for Liberty. The Center encompasses the ACLU's work on reproductive freedom, women's rights, lesbian gay bisexual and transgender rights, and freedom of religion and belief. Before assuming this role, Ms. Melling was Director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, in which capacity she oversaw nationwide litigation, communications research, public education campaigns, and advocacy efforts in the state legislatures.
Last Friday, the Trump administration announced an alarming new proposal that would strip away critical protections against discrimination in grants funded by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Initially, we thought this proposal would serve to fulfill Trump's promise to give taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies a license to discriminate. This proposal does that --and so much more.
Trump proposes to eliminate existing regulations that prohibit discrimination in HHS grant-funded programs based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion, inviting discrimination against recipients of critical services. Here are just a few examples of the discrimination this rule would allow:
- Meals on Wheels and other HHS-funded community meal programs designed to support older adults could refuse to deliver food to older Americans who are Jewish, Muslim, or LGBTQ.
- Federally funded foster care agencies could refuse to place children with families because of their faith or sexual orientation, regardless of the children's needs.
- Head Start grant recipients and other federally funded child care facilities could refuse to serve children with married same-sex parents or whose parents are of a minority faith. They could also refuse to provide services to transgender youth.
You read all of that right.
Yet no one should be surprised that the Trump administration is proposing such a sweeping change that will allow discrimination in a wide variety of federal programs that play a critical - even life-saving - role in the lives of millions of Americans.
So far this year, the Trump administration has moved to roll back fair housing protections that not only aim to address housing segregation, but also help survivors of domestic violence. Trump's Labor Department wants to give federal contractors a license to discriminate against employees. Immigrants who have a disability, as well as those who may be eligible for public assistance due to their age or income, have also been the subject of attack by the Trump administration. One of the Trump administration's first actions in 2017 was to roll back protections for transgender students and this year, it told college campuses to create a double standard that treats discrimination on the basis of sex different from discrimination on the basis of race.
This isn't even the first proposal from HHS. The Department has proposed to eliminate protections from discrimination in health care that have been crucial to transgender people, women and many others. It is also working to allow hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices to be able to refuse care based on the provider's religious beliefs.
Just one month ago, the Trump administration stood before the Supreme Court and said that firing someone for being LGBTQ should be perfectly legal as well.
What gives me hope is that ACLU supporters are fighting back. Supporters have taken more than 130,000 actions to stop federal agencies from enacting Trump's previous attempts to open the door to discrimination and will soon have the chance to comment directly on the latest discriminatory proposal.
The comment period for this proposal to allow discrimination through HHS will be open for 30 days once the rule is published in the Federal Register, which could be any day.
Whether Trump is trying to rollback long-standing nondiscrimination protections, permit discrimination in the name of religion, or allow taxpayer-funded discrimination like Friday's proposal, the ACLU will continue to fight back.
Louise Melling
Louise Melling (@LibertyLouise) is a Deputy Legal Director of the ACLU and the Director of its Center for Liberty. The Center encompasses the ACLU's work on reproductive freedom, women's rights, lesbian gay bisexual and transgender rights, and freedom of religion and belief. Before assuming this role, Ms. Melling was Director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, in which capacity she oversaw nationwide litigation, communications research, public education campaigns, and advocacy efforts in the state legislatures.
Last Friday, the Trump administration announced an alarming new proposal that would strip away critical protections against discrimination in grants funded by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Initially, we thought this proposal would serve to fulfill Trump's promise to give taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies a license to discriminate. This proposal does that --and so much more.
Trump proposes to eliminate existing regulations that prohibit discrimination in HHS grant-funded programs based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion, inviting discrimination against recipients of critical services. Here are just a few examples of the discrimination this rule would allow:
- Meals on Wheels and other HHS-funded community meal programs designed to support older adults could refuse to deliver food to older Americans who are Jewish, Muslim, or LGBTQ.
- Federally funded foster care agencies could refuse to place children with families because of their faith or sexual orientation, regardless of the children's needs.
- Head Start grant recipients and other federally funded child care facilities could refuse to serve children with married same-sex parents or whose parents are of a minority faith. They could also refuse to provide services to transgender youth.
You read all of that right.
Yet no one should be surprised that the Trump administration is proposing such a sweeping change that will allow discrimination in a wide variety of federal programs that play a critical - even life-saving - role in the lives of millions of Americans.
So far this year, the Trump administration has moved to roll back fair housing protections that not only aim to address housing segregation, but also help survivors of domestic violence. Trump's Labor Department wants to give federal contractors a license to discriminate against employees. Immigrants who have a disability, as well as those who may be eligible for public assistance due to their age or income, have also been the subject of attack by the Trump administration. One of the Trump administration's first actions in 2017 was to roll back protections for transgender students and this year, it told college campuses to create a double standard that treats discrimination on the basis of sex different from discrimination on the basis of race.
This isn't even the first proposal from HHS. The Department has proposed to eliminate protections from discrimination in health care that have been crucial to transgender people, women and many others. It is also working to allow hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices to be able to refuse care based on the provider's religious beliefs.
Just one month ago, the Trump administration stood before the Supreme Court and said that firing someone for being LGBTQ should be perfectly legal as well.
What gives me hope is that ACLU supporters are fighting back. Supporters have taken more than 130,000 actions to stop federal agencies from enacting Trump's previous attempts to open the door to discrimination and will soon have the chance to comment directly on the latest discriminatory proposal.
The comment period for this proposal to allow discrimination through HHS will be open for 30 days once the rule is published in the Federal Register, which could be any day.
Whether Trump is trying to rollback long-standing nondiscrimination protections, permit discrimination in the name of religion, or allow taxpayer-funded discrimination like Friday's proposal, the ACLU will continue to fight back.
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