LGBTQ Groups File Suit Against HHS

Lambda Legal & Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit Thursday March 19th representing three organizations Family Equality, True Colors United & SAGE against Trump’s Department of Health & Human Services to enforce anti-discrimination rules amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Puneet Cheema, Staff Attorney at Lambda Legal stated, “We are suing the Trump Administration because of its cruel effort to make it easier for HHS grant recipients to discriminate against LGBTQ youth, families & older people, in ways that put their lives at risk. At any moment, but especially at a time of a global pandemic, it is callous to expose already vulnerable populations to discrimination & allow them to be denied basic, critical services. The federal government should be making sure everyone who receives HHS grant funding does not deny LGBTQ people access to critical, life-saving services like health care, housing & child welfare services, instead of inviting discrimination, as they do here.” In November 2019 the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced that it would stop enforcing anti-discrimination protections against federal grantees that deny services to, or otherwise discriminate against, individuals. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread rapidly throughout the U.S., LGBTQ individuals of all ages are left vulnerable by the Trump administration’s illegal action, which implicitly permits discrimination when providing critical services. This unlawful federal abandonment of the LGBTQ community is particularly dangerous now & could have catastrophic, even deadly consequences. The Trump administration’s unlawful decision invites service providers to use $500 billion in grant funds to discriminate. Hopefully filing this action will prevent a bad situation from becoming worse.
For More Info: lambdalegal.org
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