The Department of Health and Human Services is being sued for a rule that effectively eliminates discrimination protections for LGBTQ individuals in all its grant programs, reports Courthouse News.
"The anti-discrimination provisions in the 2016 Grants Rule provided clear and uniform protections for LGBTQ youth and families receiving HHS-funded services, as well for the millions of people who receive services across all HHS grant programs," states a complaint filed by civil rights group Lambda Legal and nonprofit Democracy Forward on behalf of three LGBTQ advocacy groups — True Colors United, SAGE, and Family Equality.
"By abandoning these protections, the Trump administration affirmatively invites discrimination, especially on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity."
The rule, proposed by HHS Secretary Alex Azar in November, would roll back an Obama-era regulation that went into effect before he left office in 2017 that inserted nondiscrimination language on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity when determining the recipients of grants from the agency.
The move was cheered by religious groups who said the Obama rule violated those groups' religious liberties.
Puneet Cheema, a Lambda Legal attorney working on the suit, told NBC News the policy reversal will affect the most vulnerable within the LGBTQ community.
"Youth who are experiencing homelessness, seniors who have difficulties accessing health care generally, they may have heightened need for care and heightened vulnerability in this epidemic," she said.
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