The Secretary Of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson, Called Trans Women “Big, Hairy Men”

Dr. Ben Carson, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, visited HUD’s San Fransisco Office and he reportedly called trans women “big, hairy men”.

This was followed by other comments which shocked the staff and even caused one woman to walk out of a meeting in protest.

According to notes by a staffer who attended the meeting Carson started off by saying: “transgender people should get the same rights as everyone but they don’t get to change things for everybody else”.

The HUD workers told the ‘Post’ that Carson recalled conversations he had had in the past with shelter operators, who told him that homeless women would be traumatized if “big, hairy men” were to walk into a single-sex shelter, identifying as women. Carson then went on to say that he believed single-sex shelters should have the right to turn away trans people.

A spokesperson issued the following statement to the ‘Post’:

“The Secretary does not use derogatory language to refer to transgendered individuals. Any reporting to the contrary is false.”

The National Centre for Transgender Equality responded on twitter to that statement saying: "transgendered" is not a word, "transgender" is.

HUD proposed a new rule in May that would allow federally-funded shelters to deny people admission on religious grounds and force transgender women to share bathrooms and sleeping quarters with men. The policy is being challenged in the House by Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D, Va.).

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