I was preparing a weekly news drop for tomorrow when I found a gem amongst the crap. Into every ramshackle hovel, some sunshine must crawl...or some such.
Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Representative Jerry Nadler (D-NY) introduced bills in the Senate and House called the Housing Opportunities Made Equal (or HOME) Act on Thursday.
The bills would amend the Fair Housing Act so that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in housing would be illegal. Also included, for fair measure, were marital status and source of income.
But wait. There's more. For no additional effort, the bills also amend the Equal Opportunity Credit Act to prohibit LGBT discrimination in credit decisions.
The legislation would outlaw housing discrimination both before and after a housing unit is acquired; bolster non-discrimination protections for the disabled and LGBT parents with children; and provide the U.S. attorney general with pre-litigation investigative power to enforce the law.
More:
This legislation will ensure that the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act are actually protecting all Americans and guaranteeing people of any sexual orientation, gender identity, marital and familial status, and source of income the right to the housing they choose.
--Jerry Nadler
In the House the legislation will probably go to the House Judiciary and House Financial Services Committees in order to wither on the vine.
Co-sponsors of the bill, all Democrats, are Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) and Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) as well as gay Rep. Jared Polis.
It’s hard to believe that in 2011, any law-abiding, tax-paying American who can pay the rent can’t live somewhere just because of who they are. Housing discrimination against LGBT Americans is wrong, but today in most states there isn’t a thing you can do about it. This legislation would end discrimination that continues to hurt people.
--John Kerry
In the Senate the legislation will likely go through the Senate Judiciary Committee before a decision is made about whether or not it even deserves a floor vote. Sponsoring are Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.).
The Human Rights Campaign, the Family Equality Council, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force all have announced support of the legislation.
Gay and transgender Americans continue to experience high rates of discrimination in the housing and rental markets. This includes being denied housing, quoted higher rent prices, and even evicted from their homes, simply because they are gay or transgender. If passed, this legislation would provide crucial protections necessary to protect all Americans from discrimination.
--Jeff Krehely, Director of Research, Center for American Progress
Housing discrimination is wrong and runs counter to the American spirit of opportunity. It’s time we leave intolerance and bigotry in America’s dark history of senseless exclusion and instead continue to march on the path to equality.
--Shanna Smith, CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance
HUD had proposed a new rule to bar discrimination against LGBT people in federally funded and/or regulated housing programs last January, but the rule has never been finalized and so is still pending.
HUD investigations had uncovered abuses in Michigan, among other locations:
Testers who posed as gay or lesbian home seekers received unfavorable treatment on issues such as whether housing was available, the amount of rent, application fees, and levels of encouragement as compared to testers posing as heterosexual home seekers. The gay and lesbian testers also were subjected to offensive comments.
--ACLU
The National Center for Transgender Equality's Injustice at Every Turn documented the problem for transpeople.
26 percent of respondents reported having to find different places to sleep for short periods of time due to bias. 11 percent of respondents reported having been evicted due to bias, and 19 percent reported becoming homeless due to bias.
Only 13 states, the District of Columbia and a smattering of local governments outlaw discrimination in housing on the basis of gender identity.
I met Mitch and Michelle, a couple with children, a family like any other. But Mitch had been denied the opportunity to add Michelle to his public housing voucher for the sole reason that he was transgender and therefore Mitch and Michelle did not fit into the public housing authority's definition of family.
--John Trasvina, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity