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Loading ...Fed housing dept will ensure LGBT inclusion
10.21.2009 5:54pm EDT
From the Department of Housing and Urban Development:
(Washington) U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced a series of proposals to ensure that HUD’s core housing programs are open to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
“The evidence is clear that some are denied the opportunity to make housing choices in our nation based on who they are and that must end,” said Donovan. “President Obama and I are determined that a qualified individual and family will not be denied housing choice based on sexual orientation or gender identity.”The initiatives announced today will be a proposed rule that will provide the opportunity for public comment. The proposed rule will:
• clarify that the term “family” as used to describe eligible beneficiaries of our public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs include otherwise eligible lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender (LGBT) individuals and couples. HUD’s public housing and voucher programs help more than three million families to rent an affordable home. The Department’s intent to propose new regulations will clarify family status to ensure its subsidized housing programs are available to all families, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
• require grantees and those who participate in the Department’s programs to comply with local and state non-discrimination laws that cover sexual orientation or gender identity; and
• specify that any FHA-insured mortgage loan must be based on the credit-worthiness of a borrower and not on unrelated factors or characteristics such as sexual orientation or gender identity.
In addition to issuance of proposed rule, HUD will commission the first-ever national study of discrimination against members of the LGBT community in the rental and sale of housing.
HUD expects to begin the regulatory process immediately. The LGBT discrimination study is similarly fast tracked. HUD undertook important research in 1977, 1989 and 2000 to study the impact of housing discrimination on the basis of race and color.
It is believed that LGBT individuals and families may remain silent because in many local jurisdictions, they may have little or no legal recourse. HUD’s study will examine housing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
While there are no national assessments of LGBT housing discrimination, there are state and local studies that have shown this sort of bias. For example, Michigan’s Fair Housing Centers found that nearly 30 percent of same-sex couples were treated differently when attempting to buy or rent a home (http://www.fhcmichigan.org/images/Arcus_web1.pdf).
In response, HRC issued this statement:
“Today, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced an unprecedented set of initiatives that will protect LGBT people and our families in one of the most fundamental aspects of life – finding and keeping a home,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “The policies proposed today will help some of the most vulnerable people in our community and the nationwide survey will finally shed light on the discrimination LGBT people face every day in trying to make homes for themselves and their families. We thank Secretary Donovan and President Obama for taking this historic step forward.”
As part of its Blueprint for Positive Change, HRC submitted more than 70 recommendations for executive action which would improve the lives of LGBT Americans to the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team. Since the administration began, HRC staff have met and communicated with numerous federal agencies on how to implement these policies. The three policy changes proposed by today were part of HRC’s recommendations for HUD.
“require grantees and those who participate in the Department’s programs to ***comply with local and state non-discrimination laws that cover sexual orientation or gender identity***”
Great for those living in the relatively few states/cities with nondiscrimination laws on the books. Otherwise, it means nothing.
First, I gotta note that the Fair Housing Centers of Michigan study creepily mirrors a study done in Cleveland in the 70s. The Cleveland study examined bias toward nonwhite prospective tenants in a city neighborhood (Collinwood, much of which is now majority-black). The Cleveland study was so damning that it was used as primary evidence for Congress to pass the Fair Housing Act in the 70s. Michigan and Ohio are culturally similar, and our “culture”–like many other states–seems to include an unfortunate inclination to discrimination with no financial grounds. When you look at Cleveland and Detroit, you might also notice that it’s that pre-judgement which has also helped destroy entire cities.
It’s one thing if you’re shady and sketchy. You act like a hoodlum, a landlord might well have reason to not want you around. Somebody like Yodafriend–that could be any of us. You qualify for disability, you want a roof over your head. Reasonable, right? None of us can predict what may happen to our bodies (or our minds, for that matter). But what if you qualify to rent a place on paper, and suddenly the prospective landlord finds some reason to rule you out? Most os us are gonna process this argument thinking, “OK, I can still go somewhere else.” Not when you’re disabled. You might be too far from a bus or train line. You might be forced to look in a neighborhood where the sidewalks you need don’t exist. You might be forced to look in a neighborhood you can afford, but which you very much wanted to avoid because of its high crime rate. This isn’t theoretical–it happens every day.
Congratulations to Secretary Donovan for taking this step. No, it won’t fix everything, and I fully expect some asshole in some backwards state (maybe Ohio, maybe South Carolina) to challenge this standard in court. And it’s not law, let alone Federal law–it’s agency policy. Secretary Donovan is making a major effort. It would be nice to see this turned into Federal law. Where are you, President Obama, after the photo opp and the handshakes? You gonna stand up for the American people on this matter, or are you gonna let it wash away like a sandcastle?
I have been on Disablility for 13 years now. I’ve tried to get help from the HUD housing, but it took quite some time. When I finally did qualify, my apartment manager made a comment to one of the people from the HUD housing, that I was gay. I used to have a very nice relationship with HUD housing, but now it is attitude and no respect/(from the same people). It is a shame that I’ve had to go through that, but it just shows me how people really treat the gay community.