Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people continue to face discrimination in housing. This can take place when renting or buying a home, trying to secure a mortgage, or even when homeless.
The United States Government passed the Fair Housing Act to protect prospective renters or buyers from being treated differently based on certain characteristics. This federal act protects residents from discrimination based on:
Race and Color (this includes racial characteristics such as hair color, facial features or hair texture)
National Origin (this includes ancestry, culture, last name, accent, or spoken language)
Religion
Families with Children Under 18 or Pregnant Women
Disability (this includes both mental and physical disabilities, AIDS, mental retardation and long-term alcoholism. It does not include drug users)
The US Fair Housing Act does not protect prospective renters or buyers on the basis of many other characteristics, including sexual orientation.
Now, however, Westchester County has passes a Fair Housing Law that helps close this gap. This law, overseen and enforced by the Westchester County Human Rights Commission, covers all the protected classes that are mentioned in the Fair Housing Act, but it also covers:
Age
Alienage or Citizenship Status
Ethnicity
Creed
Gender
Sexual Orientation
Marital Status
The Westchester County Fair Housing Law also protects victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse or stalking from discrimination in housing.
In order to increase awareness of the Westchester County Fair Housing Law, the Human Rights Commission will be hosting a symposium on Housing Discrimination in September 2008. I have been asked to present a workshop on the discrimination that LGBT people face with respect to housing. As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, this workshop will be about the discrimination LGBT face regarding anything to do with housing: renting, buying, securing a mortgage, or when homeless.
I need your help.
If you, or anyone you know who may identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender has faced housing discrimination based on sexual orientation at any point in the past or present, I need to hear about it.
Most discrimination against LGBT people in housing goes unreported. The discrimination my partner and I faced when we were trying to get a mortgage for our house went unreported, and even unacknowledged, for many years. But for HRC to do its job, and for countless incidences of LGBT housing discrimination to be acknowledged, I need to hear about what happened to you or anyone you might know that experienced this discrimination. Also, please feel free to forward this e-mail on to anyone you think might be interested.
Your story will be kept strictly confidential. If it is used during the workshop, names and any personal references will be stripped from the story to assure anonymity.
There are very few hard numbers in existence relating to this issue, and there is virtual silence in this region, so I cannot do this without your help.
If you have questions or need additional information about this, please don’t hesitate to contact me. My contact information is below.
Thank you so much for any help you can offer. It is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely yours,
Yvette M. Christofilis
Director, Westchester County Office of LGBT Affairs
Westchester County Executive's Office
(914) 995-5742 / (914) 995-3044 (fax)
ymc1@westchestergov.com
http://www.westchestergov.com/lgbt.htm
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