1Center or American Progress | Gay and Transgender Discrimination Outside the Workplace
Gay and Transgender DiscriminationOutside the Workplace
Why We Need Protections in Housing, Health Care,and Public Accommodations
Crosby Burns and Philip Ross July 2011
Many people know ha gay and ransgender individuals experiencehigh raes o discriminaion and harassmen in he workplace. Tey know, or example, ha many Americans are being judged no on he qualiy o heir work bu on irrelevan characer-isics such as sexual orienaion and gender ideniy. Aciviss and lawmakers havelongadvocaedor laws such as heEmploymen Non-Discriminaion Ac , or ENDA, ha
would proec gay and ransgender workers rom senseless discriminaion on he job.Bu gay and ransgender Americans coninue o experience discriminaion in all sphereso lie—no jus he workplace.
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Te curren version o ENDA—which was recenly inroduced in boh houses o Congress—prohibis discriminaion in public and privae employmen on he basis o sexual orienaion and gender ideniy. Similar civil righs bills prohibiing discriminaionon he basis o race, sex, and age, however, have hisorically prohibied discriminaion noonly in employmen bu in all spheres o public lie. And as we’ll show, sexual orienaionand gender ideniy-based discriminaion in housing, healh care, and public accommo-daions is alive and well. Tis is especially rue or gay and ransgender people o color.Gay and ransgender Americans may be discriminaed agains in rening or buying hous-ing due o anigay or ransphobic landlords and propery managers. Healh care providers,oo, may harbor animus oward gay and ransgender individuals and consequenly deliversubopimal care or even reuse o see paiens who ideniy as such. And gay and ransgen-der individuals may experience an ourigh reusal o services when atemping o access ahos o public accommodaions including resaurans, parks, hoels, libraries, buses, muse-ums, and elsewhere simply because o heir sexual orienaion or gender ideniy.Unorunaely, no ederal law currenly exiss o shield gay and ransgender individu-als rom his ype o discriminaion. A pachwork o sae and local laws oers some o hese proecions o gay and ransgender Americans. Bu he lack o a comprehensiveederal law means ha a resauran owner in El Paso, exascan kick a gay coupleou o
2Center or American Progress | Gay and Transgender Discrimination Outside the Workplace
his esablishmen simply because he couple shared a kiss wih one anoher. A landlordin Wes Virginiacan decline o show a propery o a lesbian couple. And a docor inIndianacan deny serviceo a paien based on her gender ideniy.Gay and ransgender vicims o discriminaion have no legal recourse o reciy heirgrievances in each o hese insances. Addiional saes and municipaliies should enac laws ha provide ull legal proec-ions or gay and ransgender Americans rom such egregious orms o discriminaion.Furher, saes and municipaliies wih exising nondiscriminaion saues and ordi-nances should vigorously enorce hem o he ulles exen o he law.Mos imporanly, Congress should pass a comprehensive ederal law ha prohibisall orms o discriminaion based on sexual orienaion and gender ideniy, includingdiscriminaion in housing, healh care, and public accommodaions in addiion ohe crucial passage o legislaion o oulaw employmen discriminaion based onhese caegories.Unil hen gay and ransgender Americans will coninue o be exposed o discriminaionha harms hem, heir amilies, and our naional sense o airness, jusice, and equaliy.Tis memo examines his problem more closely o show why comprehensive legislaion isneeded o proec hese Americans. I documens discriminaion in housing, healh care,and public accommodaions beore moving o he need or sronger proecions a heederal, sae, and local level given ha he curren pachwork proecions are inadequae.Specically, we recommend:
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Enacing srong ederal, sae, and local laws prohibiing discriminaion on he basiso sexual orienaion and gender ideniy in employmen and in housing, healh care,and areas o public accommodaion
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Exending he Fair Housing Ac’s scope o include “sexual orienaion” and “genderideniy” in is lis o proeced caegories
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Sae and local agencies srongly enorcing heir nondiscriminaion proecions andinvesigaing any and all complains o discriminaion based on sexual orienaion orgender ideniy
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Healh care aciliies adoping policies ha would help ensure equal access o qualiy healh care or gay and ransgender paiens
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Areas o public accommodaion ensuring heir nondiscriminaion policies includesexual orienaion and gender ideniy
3Center or American Progress | Gay and Transgender Discrimination Outside the Workplace
Evidence and rates of discrimination in the housing and rental markets
On January 24, 2011 he U.S. Deparmen o Housing and Urban Developmen, orHUD,released a reporrecognizing ha “here is evidence…ha lesbian, gay, bisexual,and ransgender individuals and amilies are being arbirarily excluded rom some hous-ing opporuniies in he privae secor.”HUD, in making his deerminaion, cied he mos comprehensive sudy onransgen-der discriminaiono dae conduced by he Naional Gay and Lesbian ask Force andhe Naional Cener or ransgender Equaliy, or NCE, as well as a2007 sudy o sex-ual orienaion discriminaionconduced by he Michigan Fair Housing Commission.HUD is currenly adminisering is own naional sudy o gay and ransgender discrimi-naion in housing, which i will release laer his year. According o hese and oher sources clear evidence exiss ha boh gay and ransgenderpeople experience higher incidences o discriminaion in he housing and renal mar-kes han he general populaion.
Housing discrimination based on sexual orientation
Te Michigan Fair Housing Commission’s sudy ound ha a subsanial number o individuals experienced discriminaion in he housing and renal markes based on heirsexual orienaion:
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Tiry percen o same-sex couples were reaed negaively when atemping o buy orren propery.
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Same-sex couples were shown less desirable properies, quoed higher ren prices,received less avorable cusomer service, or encounered an ourigh reusal o sell orren properies.
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Gay individuals repored verbal harassmen rom landlords, realors, and lenders.Behind hese saisics are he sories o individuals and couples who were denied accesso equiable housing based on sexual orienaion:
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William Huberis a quadriplegic who was leasing an aparmen in SouhernCaliornia. He hired a live-in atendan, Cindy Kelly, o end o his needs. Huber wasswily and inexplicably eviced rom his aparmen when he landlord ound ouCindy was a lesbian and Huber associaed wih gay people.
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A same-sex couple in Norhern Caliorniaendured years o living nex o heir neigh- bors, who repeaedly called he gay couple “-----g aggos,” “queers,” and“but -----g boy lovers.”
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Gay and Transgender Discrimination Outside the Workplace
Crosby Burns and Philip Ross on why Congress should pass a comprehensive federal law that prohibits all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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