During this Pride Month, I can safely say that I am proud to be a woman, I am proud to be gay, and I am proud to be part of an industry that stands up for equality.Įlizabeth Ann Stribling-Kivlan is the president of Stribling & Associates.
The silver lining in all of this is that there are organizations that continue to speak out for all Americans, regardless of their backgrounds, skin color or whom they love. He “draws the line at racism” but feels that fair housing should not extend beyond that, specifically to the LGBTQ community.Īs a gay woman, I’m personally offended by his statements as an American, I am wholly disappointed that this type of rhetoric is alive and well in our society. Roerbacher’s reasoning is that people shouldn’t be forced to sell their homes to people whose lifestyle choices conflict with their religious beliefs. We certainly hope that Congress will follow the lead set at our recent legislative meetings and support the elimination of housing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“Making this decision was the right thing for NAR to do the association’s member Code of Ethics is far ahead of Congress on gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination. “After reviewing all new, relevant information, it was determined that Representative Rohrabacher will no longer receive support from NAR’s President’s Circle,” the association’s president, Elizabeth Mendenhall, said in a statement. Last month, the National Association of Realtors rescinded its support for Roerbacher. However, his words brought criticism and action from one of the most powerful real estate groups in the country. Presumably, Roehrabacher, who is up for re-election this year, said this to please some of his more conservative constituents. Today’s climateįast forward to 2018, and real estate professionals are still standing up for equality under the law, even as some lawmakers try to undermine fair housing.Ĭalifornia Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher caused an uproar when he announced that people should be allowed to refuse to sell their homes to gay people. The real estate industry had officially become a bellwether for social change. In 1974, sex was added to the protected classes, and in 1988, disability and familial statuses were included. The original Act only covered four classes: race, color, national origin and religion. The prohibitions specifically cover discrimination because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability and the presence of children.” The Fair Housing Act “protects people from discrimination when they are renting, buying, or securing financing for any housing. In case you are unfamiliar, the Fair Housing Act, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, was passed by Congress four days after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. I truly believe that, thanks to the Fair Housing Act, the real estate industry is much more inherently progressive on issues of gender equality and anti-discrimination than most other industries, as well as many of our government officials. I’m not saying this purely because I am a lesbian, a woman and the head of a NYC-based real estate brokerage - although these things do give me a unique perspective.
Twitter user was even kind enough to map out the rest of the year’s months into other deadly sins for the LGBTQ community to celebrate.As June is National Pride Month, I want to take a moment to say how proud and grateful I am to be a real estate professional. This biopic about the late iconoclastic gay Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas made Spanish actor Javier Bardem a first-time Oscar nominee five years before. Tweets and social media calls to action tell everyone that as we transition from pride to wrath our gayness and queerness only grows.
Good morning h*terosexuals yes Gay Pride month is over and we are moving on to Gay Wrath so watch the hell out tysm Hence, July has been dubbed (per the internet) as LGBTQ Wrath month. Since radical evangelical Christians remind the LGBTQ community year-round that pride goeth before the fall and that pride is one of the seven deadly sins, it seems only natural that we, as a community, move from one deadly sin to the next. Related | Kylie Minogue Closes NYC Pride In True Icon Style
Once July hits it can sometimes feel like that all-encompassing sense of comradery evaporates but, if we obey our internet overlords, that doesn’t have to be the case this year. The LGBTQ community enjoys a short time when they are widely celebrated, commodified by billion-dollar corporations, and celebrate how far we’ve come while understanding that there’s still a long way to go. The end of Pride Month is always bittersweet.