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NewLegalProtections
The Fair Housing Act (FHA) makes it illegal to discriminate in housing sales or rentals or in housing lending, advertising, insurance, appraisals and zoning on the basis of race,color, nationalorigin,religion,disability,familialstatus,andsex.
In recent years there have been some changes in how the law is interpreted by the Supreme Court and how the law is enforced by the new presidential administration. These changes have led to the expansion of the FHA to prohibitdiscriminationbasedon sexualorientationandgenderidentity.
1.Obergefellv.Hodges
2015 The Supreme Court published Obergefell v. Hodges, a decision declaring that the right to same-sex marriage was constitutionally protected by the 14th Amendment. The Court reasoned that marriage is fundamental to social order and stands as a symbol of liberty and individual autonomy
2.Bostockv.ClaytonCounty
2020 Bostock v. Clayton County - U.S. Supreme Court decision that interpreted “sex” discrimination, in a law similar to the Fair Housing Act, to include protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
ImperfectProtections
Despite Obergefell expanding marriage access to same-sex couples in 2015, a federal court in Missouri nonetheless dismissed the case of a married lesbian couple in 2019 after they were denied residency in a retirement community. A corporate policy there only allowed cohabitation for “one man and one woman, as marriage is understood in the Bible.”
The court ruled there was no legal remedy under the Fair Housing Act for the couple's unfair treatment.
However, the case was later reinstated after the 2020 decision in Bostock. The parties were then able to reach a settlement to resolve the case
