California, other states are suing to block Trump’s attempt to roll back fair housing protections

California and a coalition of other states sued the Trump administration on Monday over its efforts to roll back fair housing laws that prohibit certain types of discrimination by landlords, including LGBTQ+ people.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s proposed changes to state funding that provide housing protection for LGBTQ+ and other marginalized people not expressly protected by federal law are illegal, undermine the state’s anti-discrimination efforts and will push vulnerable people onto the streets.

“In fact, the Trump administration is trying to roll back the implementation of human rights at the federal level, and pressure countries to weaken their own defenses,” Bonta said during a press conference on Monday. “That’s not just a bad policy, it’s illegal.”

Representatives for HUD and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The federal Fair Housing Act expressly prohibits discrimination based on seven factors: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability. Under rules put in place during the Obama administration, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development has for years interpreted the law as prohibiting discrimination based on sex and gender identity.

Many states, including California, have also passed laws that expressly prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and other discriminated groups not addressed in federal law, and California also prohibits discrimination based on marital status, descent, source of income and age or military status.

In September, HUD issued new guidance that threatens to sanction federal housing agencies — stripping them of their federal funding and ability to investigate claims of discrimination — if they provide anti-discrimination protections other than those outlined in the Fair Housing Act. The directive also prohibited federal agencies from using federal funds to “promote sexism,” “sponsor or promote elective abortions” or promote illegal immigration, according to the lawsuit.

The directive follows that of HUD Secretary Scott Turner, a former NFL player and Trump loyalist, who announced last year that HUD would no longer enforce a 2016 Obama-era law protecting transgender people from housing discrimination, which Turner said “locked housing programs, shelters and other HUD-funded facilities to far-left sexist views.”

“We, in this organization, are doing the work that was set by President Trump on January 20 [2025] when he signed the executive order to restore biological truth to the federal government,” Turner said in a statement, referring to Trump’s executive order asking federal agencies across the government to withdraw protections for transgender Americans.

“This means recognizing that there are only two genders: male and female,” Turner said. “It means removing the government from the path of what Jehovah established from the beginning when he created man in His own image.”

Among other things, the administration said anti-transgender discrimination laws allow “natural men to enter shelters designed for women affected by trauma, domestic abuse and violence.”

LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have criticized the move, noting that transgender Americans face strong discrimination in places – including housing – and need protection. They also argued that HUD’s new policies violate a 2020 US Supreme Court ruling that prohibits employment discrimination based on gender or gender identity.

Bonta said the Fair Housing Act “creates a floor, not a ceiling, to protect against discrimination,” meaning he “has the authority to go further and protect more people,” as California has tried to do.

He said HUD has supported the state’s anti-discrimination efforts for decades through the Fair Housing Assistance Program, which provides funding to state and local agencies to investigate and enforce anti-discrimination housing laws. HUD’s new guidance “threatens to undermine that system” by calling for an end to federal protections not just for LGBTQ+ people, but for military veterans, immigrants and women who have abortions and other reproductive health care, he said.

“Families across California are already struggling to find affordable housing, and the last thing they need is for the federal government to make it harder,” Bonta said. “In fact, this case is about protecting a basic civil right: the right to rent, buy, or live in housing without discrimination.”

Bonta said California interprets the Fair Housing Act’s ban on gender discrimination as protecting LGBTQ+ people, but the Trump administration disagrees — making clearer state protections essential.

He said about $3 billion in federal funding is at risk for California, and millions more are at risk for other states.

Illinois Atty. General Kwame Raoul, who is helping lead the charge and spoke to Bonta on Monday, said states with strong anti-discrimination laws “will not back down and we will not allow threats” from the Trump administration.

“These actions are part of a broader, ongoing pattern by this administration to undermine the legal protections our country has put in place to combat discrimination, and to dismantle the hard-fought progress we have made for human rights,” Raoul said. “And it’s the latest page in the president’s illegal playbook to use funding and programs created by Congress to try to force states to adopt Trump’s preferred policies.”

The states allege that HUD’s intent to look into federal discrimination policies comes after it cut its staff and greatly reduced its ability to investigate housing discrimination complaints and enforce fair housing laws. They say the new guidance violates several federal laws, including laws governing federal spending and regulatory reform, and are asking a federal court to immediately strike down the guidance as unconstitutional.

Bonta and Raoul are joined by attorneys general in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.