In this year when we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, it is fitting to recognize the history of fair housing laws, the battles waged to enact change, and the contributions made by a wide range of groups and organizations.
The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, known as the Kerner Commission after its chair, Gov. Otto Kerner, Jr. of Illinois, was an 11-member commission established by President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the civil disorders and causes of the 1976 race riots in the United States. The Kerner Commission wrote that, “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal.” On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. President Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act into law on April 11, 1968. The act states, “It is the policy of the United States to provide, within constitutional limitations, for fair housing throughout the United States.” The 1968 Fair Housing Act prohibited discrimination in the sale and rental of housing based on race, color, religion and national origin. In 1974, the Fair Housing Act was amended to prohibit discrimination based on sex. The act was again amended in 1988 to prohibit discrimination based on disability or familial status, which includes the presence of child under the age of 18, and pregnant women.
Over time, state law, local ordinances and the REALTOR® Code of Ethics have extended protections to other groups. As one might expect, these changes often were the source of controversy and turmoil and almost always involved an effort over the span of several years by coalitions of organizations joining forces to champion the cause. Wisconsin has played a fundamental role in the evolution of the protections now extended to the LGBT community at the state law level and nationally via the REALTOR® Code of Ethics.
Wisconsin enacts first law prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination
On February 25, 1982, Wisconsin became the first U.S. state to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation. This landmark achievement in midwestern Wisconsin came as a surprise to many on the east and west coasts, and 1982 seemed an unlikely year for gay progress. This was the era of conservative resistance to the sexual revolution, earmarked by the Moral Majority religious coalition spearheaded by American Southern Baptist pastor Jerry Falwell. Ronald Reagan had been elected president in 1980, riding on a wave of support from evangelical Christians. Against this unlikely backdrop, an effort that spanned over 15 years was afoot.
In 1967, state representative Lloyd Barbee from Milwaukee introduced the first bill to decriminalize homosexuality and all sexual practices between consenting adults. In 1971, he also introduced a bill to protect gays and lesbians from job discrimination. Barbee left the assembly in 1976, and state representative David Clarenbach took up the cause with what became 1981 Assembly Bill 70 (AB 70). AB 70 proposed to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation.
In 1977, singer Anita Bryant, the voice of the Florida Citrus Commission’s orange juice commercials, crusaded against a Miami ordinance forbidding discrimination based on sexual preference. The ordinance was overturned, leading to national boycotts of orange juice in the LGBT community and inspiring Milwaukee college student Leon Rouse to start his own campaign for gay rights. He organized clergy from Christian and Jewish denominations to join the Committee for Fundamental Judeo-Christian Human Rights and engage in lobbying efforts in support of AB 70. Catholic Archbishop Rembert Weakland wrote a letter to legislators supporting the gay rights bills. He also wrote in a Catholic newspaper asking Catholics to respect gay people and back their struggle for civil rights.
Rep. Clarenbach and other progressive legislators organized the necessary votes, framing the issue as a civil rights, not a morality, matter. Clarenbach assembled various interest groups and found Republican allies. In the end, AB 70 passed both houses with bipartisan votes. Despite massive last-minute pressure from Christian fundamentalists that he veto the bill, Republican Gov. Lee Dreyfus signed the pioneering legislation. Dreyfus commented that, “It is a fundamental tenet of the Republican Party that government ought not intrude in the private lives of individuals where no state purpose is served, and there is nothing more private or intimate than who you live with and who you love.”
The enactment of the country’s first law to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation paved the way for continued advances for the LGBT community over the next three decades. Yet only 22 states provide legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations, and no federal law has been enacted to protect LGBT people from discrimination.
There is, however, a national prohibition against discrimination based on sexual orientation in the sale and rental of housing, and once again, Wisconsin played a role.
REALTOR® code of ethics prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation
In 2011, Article 10 of the Code of Ethics of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) was amended to prohibit REALTORS® from denying equal professional services to any person based upon sexual orientation. And the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association and the WRA Cultural Diversity in Housing Committee played a vital role in securing the groundbreaking amendment to Article 10. It was uncertain how much resistance there might be in response to this effort, but it was clear there were multiple steps to take and hurdles to clear in order to successfully amend the national Code of Ethics.
In 2007, the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Real Estate Professionals (NAGLREP), led by founder Jeff Berger, began its mission to amend Article 10 of the NAR Code of Ethics to prohibit REALTOR® discrimination based on sexual orientation. NAGLREP director Eric Kodner brought the proposal to the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association Equal Opportunity in Housing Committee in 2009. This was a natural fit because not every state has an active equal opportunity/cultural diversity committee as does the WRA, and because Wisconsin had enacted the first law prohibiting discrimination in housing based upon sexual orientation.
With the approval of the WRA board of directors, the committee proposed that the NAR Interpretations and Procedures Subcommittee of NAR’s Professional Standards Committee initiate an Article 10 amendment. The WRA committee also asked the NAR Equal Opportunity/Cultural Diversity Committee for its support. During the November 2009 NAR annual meetings, the NAR Equal Opportunity/Cultural Diversity Committee recommended that existing NAR policy on equal housing opportunity be amended to include opposition to discrimination based on sexual orientation, instead of recommending an Article 10 amendment.
In March 2010, the Interpretations and Procedures Subcommittee of the NAR Professional Standards Committee, where all amendments to the Code of Ethics must begin, was convinced to consider the proposed Article 10 amendment to prohibit discrimination based upon sexual orientation. During the NAR May 2010 Midyear meetings, the NAR Equal Opportunity/Cultural Diversity Committee, upon the request of the WRA, issued a strong recommendation to the Professional Standards Committee that Article 10 be amended to prohibit discrimination based upon sexual orientation. The Professional Standards Committee approved the proposed Article 10 amendment, which was then forwarded to the NAR board of directors. The board unanimously approved the amendment.
The remaining hurdle to clear was the NAR Delegate Body where Code of Ethics amendments must be approved by a two-thirds majority. On November 8, 2010, delegates representing 791 boards and 876,379 REALTORS® were present, and they passed the Article 10 amendment with over 93 percent voting in favor.
A protected class had not been added to the NAR Code of Ethics since 1998, when the federal fair housing law was modified to include people with disabilities and families with children. The NAR Code had been amended to match the federal law. The amendment adding sexual orientation marked the first time Article 10 included a protected class not already protected by the Fair Housing Act. As NAR General Counsel Laurie Janik observed, NAR was ahead of Congress.
Gender identity was added to Article 10 of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics as an additional protected class in 2013. These updates to the Code sent a clear message to REALTOR® members about the importance of equality for all consumers, a message that is particularly powerful in 2018 as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act.
Article 10
REALTORS® shall not deny equal professional services to any person for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. REALTORS® shall not be parties to any plan or agreement to discriminate against a person or persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. (Amended 1/14)
REALTORS®, in their real estate employment practices, shall not discriminate against any person or persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. (Amended 1/14)
- Standard of Practice 10-3 REALTORS® shall not print, display or circulate any statement or advertisement with respect to selling or renting of a property that indicates any preference, limitations or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. (Adopted 1/94, Renumbered 1/05 and 1/06, Amended 1/14)
Resources
Debbi Conrad is Senior Attorney and Director of Legal Affairs for the WRA.