Mamdani Refuses Millions of Dollars for Homeless Vets Over Federal Rule To House Them Based on Biological Sex, Not How They Identify

New York City’s progressive leaders are walking away from millions of dollars in federal funding for a shelter that houses homeless veterans, in protest against the Trump administration’s insistence on two biological sexes.Starting October 1, the New York City Department of Homeless Services will no longer receive money from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Grants and Per Diem Program. VA records indicate that the city funded beds for 154 homeless veterans through the program last year. Virtually all of those beds are at the city’s primary shelter for former military personnel, Borden Avenue Veterans Residence at Queens. New York City Councilmember Joann Ariola’s office estimated the annual funding to be in the neighborhood of $4 million.The city initially applied for renewed funding from the VA per diem program, which included an evaluation of the Borden Avenue residence, before pulling out.According to NYC Department of Social Services Deputy Commissioner Neha Sharma, the VA offered the city only a fraction of what it has in years past while “requiring that the agency discriminate against certain veterans by excluding transgender veterans from seeking shelter in VA-funded beds.”While the VA initially denied that assertion, the agency later told The New York Sun the issue boiled down to a White House order that directs government agencies to classify and house people based on their biological sex, regardless of how they identify. “All VA grant awardees must adhere to all of the department’s terms and conditions, which include compliance with relevant White House executive orders, including Executive Order 14168,” Department of Veterans Affairs Press Secretary Quinn Slaven said in a statement to the Sun on Friday. “After learning of those terms and conditions, the Borden Avenue group voluntarily withdrew from the grant process.”Executive Order 14168, issued the day President Trump returned to office, restored a binary, male and female definition of sex within the federal government. The order includes a provision that requires agencies to “ensure that intimate spaces designated for women, girls, or females (or for men, boys, or males) are designated by sex and not identity.”The order does not direct government agencies to deny people services based on their gender identity. “VA has limited resources and distributes these awards based on past performance, demonstrated need and ability to provide high-quality service to Veterans,” Mr. Slaven said. “With these factors in mind, VA evaluated the Borden Avenue facility and determined that it could not justify a larger award.”“The more we learn about this situation, the more questions there are,” said City Councilmember and chair of its Veterans Committee Frank Morano said in a statement Friday, calling for the city to explain whether it explored alternatives before it pulled the plug on the federal funding.“If there was a way to protect transgender veterans, preserve the City’s policy position and continue bringing federal resources into New York to serve homeless veterans, I want to know whether every possible option was exhausted,” he said. “Whatever disagreement exists between City Hall and Washington, homeless veterans cannot become collateral damage.”The City Reporter was the first to report the story.

Mamdani Refuses Millions of Dollars for Homeless Vets Over Federal Rule To House Them Based on Biological Sex, Not How They Identify

Mamdani Refuses Millions of Dollars for Homeless Vets Over Federal Rule To House Them Based on Biological Sex, Not How They Identify

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