Thiago
Derucio and his partner
were denied an apartment because they are gay. They responded to an online ad
for housing but were turned down once their sexual orientation was revealed.
Their experience is not unique. Same-sex couples often have to pay more in taxes when they
buy or sell a home, or transfer ownership interest, than married heterosexual
couples do. In other instances, they are denied housing
loans. This is mainly because; there is no national law that
protects against sexual orientation discrimination in housing. The federal Fair
Housing Act as Amended (FHAA) prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis
of race, color,
national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap but not sexual
orientation and gender identity. A patchwork of state and local laws offers
some of the much needed protections to gay and transgender people. But the lack
of a comprehensive federal law means that people like Thiago and his partner,
do not have equal access to housing. However, the recent Supreme Court ruling,
striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) gives some indication that
discrimination in housing based on sexual orientation may soon be a thing of
the past.
The Court struck
down the federal law mainly because it denies same-sex couples the equal
liberty guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. The decision basically holds that
persons of the same sex who are legally married under State law may not be
deprived of the federal benefits that are provided to married couples of the
opposite sex. This decision will have far-reaching implications for same sex
couples in areas like bankruptcy, federal employee benefits, the Family Medical
Leave Act, Immigration, Medicaid, Medicare, military spousal benefits, private
employment benefits, Social Security, SSI, taxes and hopefully in fair housing.
The Court’s decision
could provide the needed impetus for a federal rule prohibiting discrimination on
the basis of sexual orientation in the rental and ownership of housing. This is
likely, considering HUD’s 2012 adoption of the Equal Access Rule that prohibits lenders from
discriminating on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation, marital
status or gender identity in granting mortgages insured by Federal Housing
Administration (FHA). A recent settlement reached between HUD and Bank of
America (BOA) in regards to an anti-gay mortgage discrimination complaint
provides an indication that such a rule will be enforced.
On the heels of
the Supreme Court’s rulings on marriage equality, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown recently introduced the Housing
Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) Act of 2013, which would for the first time
bar discrimination against LGBT Americans when selling or renting property. The Act would add sexual orientation,
gender identity, marital status and source of income to those FHA protected
classes, but it has yet to be introduced to Congress.
A new study
by HUD found that same-sex couples were "significantly less likely than heterosexual
couples to get favorable responses to e-mail inquiries about electronically
advertised rental housing." In fact, heterosexual couples were favored
over gay male couples in 15.9 percent of the tests, and over lesbian couples in
15.6 percent. We can only hope that the recent Supreme Court decision will make
such forms of discrimination illegal and allow people like Thiago Derucio and
his partner equal access to housing.
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