Unpacking HUD's Housing Discrimination Protections

The Obama administration recently tossed gay and transgender folks another crumb. During a celebration of LGBT Pride Month, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Shaun Donovan, announced that HUD would now be pursuing cases of housing discrimination against LGBT individuals.

Because the executive agency cannot change law, the policy change actually represents a more inclusive interpretation of existing law. That law is the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Also known as “Title VIII” of the Civil Rights Act, FHA created meaningful federal mechanisms to prevent rampant housing discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin. Congress passed the original version in 1968, and has since moved to protect sex, familial status, and disability.

While the FHA lacks explicit protection for sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, many cases of LGBT discrimination can be boiled down to gender discrimination.

For example, as HUD explains, a landlord refusing housing to a tenant who is biologically female, but exhibits masculine mannerisms, can be prosecuted based on the landlord’s illegal sex-based discrimination. Similarly, if a landlord refuses to lease to a gay man based on the belief that he has HIV/AIDS, HUD can sue based on disability protections.

During this tough economic time, this change is a welcomed improvement for an already vulnerable group. According to a study last year by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce (NGLT), 19% of transgender people report homelessness because of their gender identity, an astoundingly high proportion (pdf).

Advocacy groups NCTE and NGLT celebrated the new regulation. “We’re talking about one of the most fundamental needs a person can have: shelter,” said Rea Carey, Executive Director of NGLT, according to Keen News Service. “Including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and our families in housing policies in order to better protect them and ensure fairness marks a proper governmental response and step toward rectifying a long-standing inequity.”

HUD has also instructed staff to both inform aggrieved residents about state or local housing protections and jointly investigate alleged injustice with state or local authorities that explicitly outlaw LGBT discrimination. Currently, 13 states and the District of Columbia and over 60 cities include sexual orientation and gender identity and expression as protected classes.

So now gay men cannot be evicted because they could be potentially AIDS-infested tenants? How refreshing. This policy change is common sense and important. But will some consider it too little, too late?

Only when Congress passes comprehensive federal antidiscrimination law will housing discrimination against LGBT people be truly outlawed. Today in 38 states, it is still legal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression at work, school, and even one’s home.

If you believe you are or will be the victim of anti-LGBT housing discrimination, contact HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at (800) 669-9777 or visit their website here.

Photo credit: taberandrew