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New bill would bar housing bias against gay, trans people

Task Force hopes Fair & Inclusive Housing Rights Act ‘gains momentum’

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Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, said she hopes the Fair & Inclusive Housing Rights Act 'gains momentum.' (DC Agenda photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill Thursday that would amend the landmark Fair Housing Act of 1968 to include a ban on housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Nadler introduced the measure, the Fair & Inclusive Housing Rights Act of 2010, hours before he held a hearing to discuss possible changes for the Fair Housing Act.

“Housing discrimination remains a persistent problem in our country,” he said in opening remarks at the hearing before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, which he chairs. “While we would like to think that housing discrimination is an artifact of the past, we know it is not.”

Nadler and several witnesses who testified at the hearing, including Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, praised the Fair Housing Act for making important progress in fighting housing-related discrimination against other minorities.

The act, signed by President Lyndon Johnson, prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing on the basis of race, color, religion and national origin. Congress amended the law in 1974 to include protections based on gender. In 1988, it added protections based on a person’s disability and family status.

“Discrimination [in housing] on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity are perfectly legal in many areas, and people are regularly denied a place to live simply because of that status,” Nadler said at the hearing.

He noted that Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, joined him in introducing the Fair & Inclusive Housing Rights Act, which Nadler said would ban housing related discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

The three-page bill is focused solely on expanding the Fair Housing Act to include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

“We’re very pleased that he introduced this today and, with our testimony and the support of others, we hope it gains momentum,” Carey said after the hearing. “There are a number of members of Congress who will be quite supportive of this.”

In her testimony, Carey cited preliminary findings of a Task Force survey on transgender discrimination showing that 11 percent of transgender respondents reported being evicted and 19 percent reported becoming homeless due to incidents of discrimination.

“For us, the pursuit of the American dream, including home ownership, is a risky proposition,” she said. “When our sexual orientation or gender identity is known, either because we offer it willingly or a landlord, realtor or lender is made aware by other means, there is potential for outright hostility, property damage and even physical violence.

“Studies show that in renting apartments, when callers described themselves as gay or lesbian, apartments are more likely to be described as unavailable.”

Nadler’s bill comes at a time when Capitol Hill insiders expect the House to soon vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would bar employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Insiders, including LGBT activists, say ENDA has a good chance of clearing the House but its prospects in the Senate are less certain.

Other people who testifyied at the hearing said they supported adding sexual orientation and gender identity protections to the Fair Housing Act, and also called for better enforcement of act’s existing protections.

The other witnesses included Shanna Smith, president of the National Fair Housing Alliance; Barabara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Kenneth Marcus, visiting professor of Baruch College School of Public Affairs; John Relman, founder and director of Relman & Dane; and Okianer Christian Dark, an associate dean and professor of law at the Howard University School of Law.

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Federal Government

UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House

University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams

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U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon (Screen capture: C-SPAN)

In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”

The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.

“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”

Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”

Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”

“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”

Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.

Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.

The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.

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New York

Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade

One of the victims remains in critical condition

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The Stonewall National Memorial in New York on June 19, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.

According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.

The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.

The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.

In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.

The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.

New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.

“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”

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New York

Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade

Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

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NYC mayoral candidate and New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani (Screen capture: NBC News/YouTube)

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.

The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”

“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.

Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”

His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.

“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”

“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”

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