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Funders for LGBTQ Issues Releases Statement on HHS Contracting Rule Change

Thursday, December 5, 2019
Forum member Funders for LGBTQ Issues released a statement on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) contracting rule change which announced that it would immediately allow discrimination against LGBTQ people and other vulnerable communities in its taxpayer-funded programs. The announcement means HHS will no longer enforce its own regulations requiring HHS funded programs to prevent discrimination against LGBTQ people, people seeking abortion and related reproductive healthcare, people living with HIV, children in foster care or adoption programs, religious minorities, older Americans, and people with disabilities. It would also allow grantee programs to treat same-sex marriages as invalid, despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s establishment of marriage equality as the law of the land.

"We continue to be alarmed and deeply disturbed by the Trump administration’s intentional targeting of the most vulnerable members of the LGBT community, in particular harming queer and trans people of color, all women, LGBTQ youth, seniors, immigrants, religious minorities, and those with disabilities,” said Funders for LGBTQ Issues President Ben Francisco Maulbeck. “We will remain vigilant and committed to keeping our members informed of the impacts of these rollbacks of anti-discrimination protections, as well as the innovative strategies and work LGBTQ communities are building in response.” 

Funders for LGBTQ Issues will present programming related to this and other related attacks from the Trump administration at our annual convening Funding Forward, and share other opportunities for funders to learn more about how they can stay updated and respond. If your institution is responding to these attacks, please let Funders for LGBTQ Issues know so that it can monitor the philanthropic response. For those interested in submitting public comments on this rule, you can do so through Family Equality Council’s Every Child Deserves a Family campaign. The campaign includes a broad coalition of LGBTQ and allied organizations.

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