The Trump administration on Thursday
finalized a rule change that reverses an Obama-era policy that
protected against LGBT discrimination in adoption and health
services.
The Department of Health & Human
Services (HHS) went public with its final rule on Thursday, the day
after a large pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol in an effort to keep
Trump in office.
(Related: LGBT
organizations GLAAD, Athlete Ally, PFLAG join chorus to remove
Trump.)
According to the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights group, the finalized
regulation permits “discrimination against LGBTQ people, religious
minorities, and women in programs related to foster care, adoption,
HIV and STI prevention, youth homelessness, refugee resettlement,
elder care programs, and more.”
HRC described the rule change as
Trump's “parting assault on the LGBTQ community.”
“At the 11th hour, the lame duck
Trump-Pence administration has published its parting assault on the
LGBTQ community via a federal regulation that would permit
discrimination across the entire spectrum of HHS programs receiving
federal funding,” HRC President Alphonso David said in a statement.
“The Biden-Harris administration and Secretary Designate Xavier
Becerra must urgently work to rescind this discriminatory
regulation.”
Finalization of the rule, first
proposed in November 2019, was expected. In fact, the Trump
administration began following the new guidance when it was proposed,
arguing that the Obama administration had not properly implemented
its rule.
(Related: New
Trump admin rule allows adoption agencies to refuse placement with
LGBT couples.)
Vice President Mike Pence in 2019 said
that he was “proud” of the rule change.
“We’ve reversed the rule
implemented in the closing days of the last administration that
jeopardized the ability of faith-based providers to serve those in
need by penalizing them for their deeply held religious beliefs,”
Pence told an audience at an HHS celebration of adoption month. “We
will stand for the freedom of religion and we will stand with
faith-based organizations to support adoption.”
Pence, an opponent of LGBT rights,
added that he “couldn't be more proud” of the rule and praised
Trump for taking “decisive action.”