Increasing Awareness of LGBTQ Housing Discrimination
At GayRealEstate.com, we are passionate about providing the best possible real estate experience for LGBTQ buyers and sellers across the country. We understand that while much of that has to do with finding the perfect home, it is even more important to ensure that the perfect home is in a community where LGBTQ buyers will feel safe, respected, and protected against discrimination in all areas of their lives. Of course, that should include purchasing or selling a home.
According to a consuming housing trends report recently conducted by Zillow, only 28% of LGBTQ home buyers and 29% of LGBTQ renters completely agreed with the statement, “I feel accepted for who I am by those around me where I live,” in comparison to 51% of cisgender heterosexual home buyers, and 40% of cisgender heterosexual renters. While this shouldn’t be the case, it’s unfortunately still the reality for many LGBTQ home owners across the country.
The truth of the matters is that everyone deserves to feel that they can purchase (or sell) a home without fear of discrimination simply because of who they are or who they love. At GayRealEstate.com, we have led the way in this respect, with over 25 years of fighting for and protecting the rights of LGBTQ home buyers and sellers across the country. We are happy to see that recently, other mainstream real estate services like Zillow are beginning to follow suit as well.
Unfortunately, despite all of the significant strides that the LGBTQ community has made toward equality in recent years, there is still no federal law specifically and explicitly protecting the LGBTQ community from housing discrimination. The good news is that the Equality Act, which is currently awaiting consideration in the Senate, would add some of these necessary and important protections at least on a federal level, but at the moment, the matter remains up to state law. While some states have enacted such protections, there are still 27 states still lacking any sort of legal remedy for those in the LGBTQ community who have experienced housing discrimination on the basis of their sexuality[1].
In light of the attention currently being focused on the Equality Act at the highest levels of government, many, including mainstream real estate services, are starting to take note, Zillow most recently among them. In late June of 2020, Zillow unveiled what it calls, “LGBT Local Legal Protections”. This is a data-powered service intended to help those in the LGBTQ community see what protections exist in an area of interest.
As a result of this change, all listings on Zillow, either for sale or for rent, on and off market, will now provide prospective home buyers with information and data on local legal protections against discrimination for those in the LGBTQ community. When asked about the change, Dawn Lyon, Zillow’s chief corporate relations officer said, “It’s 2020, and yet, unfortunately, in many parts of the United States, LGBTQ+ home shoppers still face housing discrimination. That’s why we strongly support federal-level protections as part of the Equality Act. In lieu of federal law and in the spirit of ‘turning on the lights’, we want to give people the most information possible when buying, renting, and financing a home, including which communities provide equal protection under the law for all.”
At GayRealEstate.com, we consider these developments to be excellent news, and we hope that more and more companies begin to follow suit. For the last quarter of a century, we have been committed to helping the LGBTQ community pursue fairness and equality in every real estate transaction, every time. It is our passion and our promise to work as hard as we can to help every LGBTQ buyer and seller realize their real estate dreams, and we are so proud of our record and reputation for doing exactly that. If you are interested in buying or selling a home, and we can help pair you with an agent in your community that’s a great fit for you, we would love to have the opportunity to do so. Contact us any time online or toll-free 1-888-420-MOVE (6683). We look forward to helping you soon.
[1] These states include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
