Northwestern Mutual Receives Ninth Consecutive Score of 100% on Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index Company earns the Equality 100 Award for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion MILWAUKEE, Dec. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Northwestern Mutual announced today that the company earned a 100% for the ninth consecutive year in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s (HRC) Corporate Equality … [Read more…]
Gender-affirming care encompasses a broad range of psychological, behavioral and medical treatments for transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people.
The care is designed to “support and affirm an individual’s gender identity” when it is at odds with the sex they were assigned at birth, as defined by the World Health Organization.
What is gender-affirming surgery?
Gender-affirming surgery refers to the surgical and cosmetic procedures that give transgender and nonbinary people “the physical appearance and functional abilities of the gender they know themselves to be,” according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. It is sometimes called gender reassignment surgery.
There are three main types of gender-affirming surgeries, per the Cleveland Clinic:
Top surgery, in which a surgeon either removes a person’s breast tissue for a more traditionally masculine appearance or shapes a person’s breast tissue for a more traditionally feminine appearance.
Bottom surgery, or the reconstruction of the genitals to better align with a person’s gender identity.
Facial feminization or masculinization surgery, in which the bones and soft tissue of a person’s face are transformed for either a more traditionally masculine or feminine appearance.
Some people who undergo gender-affirming surgeries also use specific hormone therapies. A trans woman or nonbinary person on feminizing hormone therapy, for example, takes estrogen that’s paired with a substance that blocks testosterone. And a trans man or nonbinary person on masculinizing hormone therapy takes testosterone.
Gender-affirming surgeries and treatments are the recommended course of treatment for gender dysphoria by the American Medical Association. Gender dysphoria is defined as “clinically significant distress or impairment related to gender incongruence, which may include desire to change primary and/or secondary sex characteristics,” according to the American Psychiatric Association.
Some LGBTQ+ advocates and medical professionals feel that gender dysphoria shouldn’t be treated as a mental disorder, and worry that gender dysphoria’s inclusion in the DSM-5 — the authoritative source on recognized mental health disorders for the psychiatric industry — stigmatizes trans and nonbinary people.
How much does gender-affirming surgery cost?
Gender-affirming surgery can cost between $6,900 and $63,400 depending on the precise procedure, according to a 2022 study published in The Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics.
Out-of-pocket costs can vary dramatically, though, depending on whether you have insurance and whether your insurance company covers gender-affirming surgeries.
There are also costs associated with the surgery that may not be represented in these estimates. Additional costs may include:
Surgeons fees
Hospital fees
Consultation fees
Insurance copays
The cost of psychiatric care or therapy, as most insurance companies and surgeons require at least one referral letter prior to the surgery. An hour of therapy can cost between $65 and $250, according to Good Therapy, an online platform for therapists and counselors.
Time off work. After bottom surgery, you can expect to miss six weeks of work while recovering. Most people miss around two weeks of work after top surgery.
Miscellaneous goods that’ll help you recover. For example, after bottom surgery, you might need to invest in a shower stool, waterproof bed sheets, cheap underwear and sanitary towels. Top surgery patients may need, depending on the procedure, a mastectomy pillow, chest binder and baggy clothes.
Is gender-affirming surgery covered by insurance?
It’s illegal for any federally funded health insurance program to deny coverage on the basis of gender identity, sexual orientation or sexual characteristics, per Section 1557, a section of the Affordable Care Act. Section 1557 doesn’t apply to private insurance companies, though, and several U.S. states have passed laws banning gender-affirming care.
The following states have banned gender-affirming surgery for people under 18 years old, according to the Human Rights Campaign: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia. In four of these states — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Indiana — court injunctions are currently ensuring access to care.
And these states have either passed laws — or have governors who issued executive orders — protecting access to gender-affirming surgery, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a public policy nonprofit: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, D.C.
But even if your state has enshrined protections for gender-affirming care, some private insurance companies may consider surgeries “cosmetic” and therefore “not medically necessary,” according to the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. If you have private insurance or are insured through your employer, contact your insurance company and see if they cover gender-affirming care. Also, ask about any documentation the insurance company requires for coverage.
The Williams Institute estimates that 14% of trans Americans currently enrolled in Medicaid live in states where such coverage is banned, while another 27% of trans Americans live in states where coverage is “uncertain,” because their state laws are “silent or unclear on coverage for gender-affirming care.”
Because of Section 1557, Medicaid is federally banned from denying coverage on the basis of sex or gender; among the roughly 1.3 million transgender Americans, around 276,000 have Medicaid coverage, according to a 2022 report from the Williams Institute.
How to pay for gender-affirming surgery
If your private insurance company won’t cover gender-affirming care, and you’re unable to obtain coverage through the federal marketplace, consider these sources:
There are also several nonprofits that offer financial assistance for gender-affirmation surgeries. Those organizations include:
Point of Pride, which offers grants and scholarships to trans and nonbinary people seeking gender-affirming surgery and care.
Genderbands, which offers grants for gender-affirming surgeries and care.
Housing discrimination continues to be a serious problem plaguing renters, homebuyers, and homeowners throughout America.
There were more than 31,200 fair housing complaints filed in 2021, the most recent year where data was available, according to the National Fair Housing Alliance’s 2022 Fair Housing Trends Report. That was the most complaints filed in at least 25 years. The majority, 82%, involved rentals.
“Housing discrimination is pervasive in housing markets across the country,” says Morgan Williams, general counsel of NFHA. “Discrimination is significantly underreported. It’s hard to get good data.”
In 1968, the federal Fair Housing Act was passed to make the rampant discrimination in the housing market illegal. It initially protected people based on race, color, national origin, and religion. Familial status, disability, and sex, which includes sexual orientation and gender identity, have since been added as protected classes.
This is meant to ensure that everyone is treated equally when renting or buying homes, receiving home loans or insurance, and having their homes appraised. However, people are still being denied housing based on their race or sexual orientation, and pregnant women are being denied mortgages.
The NFHA commissioned a report in 2004 that estimated that there were likely more than 3 million fair housing violations against Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native Americans in the rental and for-sale housing market. This didn’t include violations against other protected groups or in the mortgage, appraisal, and other facets of the real estate industry. When adding those in, he expects there are more than 4 million victims of housing discrimination a year.
Much of the discrimination goes unreported. Many people don’t realize they are victims or are unaware of how to file a fair housing complaint. Those who do often face an uphill battle in proving that they are victims. And some worry about losing their housing if they complain.
“It is a real problem in the market,” says Williams.
What are the most common fair housing complaints?
The bulk of the fair housing complaints received in 2021 were related to disability, according to the NFHA report. These made up about 54.2% of complaints. It was followed by race, familial status, sex, national origin, color, and religion. The report captured complaints filed with nonprofit fair housing organizations and government agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“There is still a tremendous amount of ignorance, as well as conscious and unconscious bias regarding people who are differently abled,” says Stephen Beard. He is an Oakland, CA, real estate agent with Keller Williams who specializes in working with people with disabilities. “Some landlords and other decision-makers do the minimum they can get away with.”
Some of the issues faced by those in the disabled community include being denied rentals because of the way they are perceived, not receiving reasonable accommodations for ramps, chairlifts, and closer parking spaces, as well as landlords not allowing service support animals. Sometimes light fixtures and countertops are out of reach for those in wheelchairs, or kitchens aren’t wide enough to accommodate a chair.
“There simply is not enough accessible housing stock for people with physical challenges, as well as bias against people with cognitive challenges such as autism or who have mental health issues,” says Beard. Many people “can’t find housing. If they have housing, they sometimes can’t afford to move or make their own homes accessible.”
Securing housing is also often a challenge for members of protected classes. For example, families might report that their landlords illegally prohibit their children from accessing amenities in their complexes. People of color are denied mortgages or charged higher fees for loans compared with white borrowers with similar financial pictures. Transgender renters report being evicted due to their gender identity.
“Housing affects absolutely everything you do,” says Marlene Zarfes, executive director of Westchester Residential Opportunities. The civil rights agency works on fair housing complaints in Westchester County, NY, which is located just north of New York City. “If you don’t have suitable housing, how do you get to your job? How do your kids go to school?”
In most major cities in the United States, homes in gayborhoods are worth more than the typical home – in some cases several times more.
To identify gayborhoods across the country ahead of Pride Month, Zillow analyzed data from the American Community Survey to find which neighborhoods have the highest share of same-sex couple households compared with others in the areai.
The neighborhood with the highest share is North Banker’s Hill, San Diego, where 10.1 percent of households are same-sex couples. The North Banker’s Hill housing premium is about 25 percent – the typical North Banker’s Hill home is worth $792,400, compared with the citywide median value of $632,600.
West Palm Springs in California has the second-highest share of same-sex couple households at 9.2 percent, but homes there come with a much higher premium. Homes in West Palm Springs are worth more than three times as much as the typical home in the broader Riverside metro.
In fact, there are 10 major cities where home values in the gayborhood are more than double the community at large, including Houston, Charlotte and Philadelphia. That’s not to say home values are necessarily higher simply because it’s the gayborhood. Other factors could be driving the premium; gayborhoods are often close to amenities like bars, restaurants, and job centers.
There are a few places where gayborhoods buck this trend. In the downtown area of San Jose, Calif., homes are worth 38.1 percent less than the typical San Jose home. The area also has the smallest share of same-sex couples in the analysis at 1.1 percent. Gayborhoods in San Antonio and Kansas City have a similar discount on housing.
“The narrative of gayborhoods as a signal for rapid home value appreciation and gentrification has been around for decades, with Greenwich Village and the Castro long held up as examples,” said Zillow Director of Economic Research Skylar Olsen. “Today, the story is a little different. While these neighborhoods still foster a sense of community and social acceptance, living within them often comes at premium many may not be able to afford. This has a disproportionate effect on intersectional LGBTQ people —not just gay, but a person of color, transgender, a woman—those who are disadvantaged when it comes to earning potential.
Mike Wheatley is the senior editor at Realty Biz News. Got a real estate related news article you wish to share, contact Mike at [email protected].
Kristen Chapman, 52, doesn’t know anyone in Virginia. She doesn’t have a job lined up or a home there. But this summer, the Tennessee mother of three will uproot her family from Nashville and move 600 miles away to Richmond, VA, so that her transgender daughter can continue receiving the gender-affirming care that Chapman believes has saved her child’s life.
In March, Tennessee banned gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
“My youngest child cannot get care here legally. I no longer feel welcome here. I no longer feel safe here,” says Chapman, a social worker and artist, who identifies as queer. “I literally feel targeted, like someone painted a big X on our door and we have to get out.”
Chapman is part of a growing number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people and their families fleeing neighborhoods, cities, and states where they are worried about their safety. Some have faced harassment as anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric has spread throughout the country. Others are desperate parents of children whose gender-affirming health care has been outlawed by their state governments. Most are relocating to blue and purple cities and states, where housing costs are often much higher but they feel welcomed.
Since June 5 of this year, more than 525 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in 41 states, creating a new record, according to the Human Rights Campaign. More than 220 of those bills targeted transgender individuals with at least 20 states now banning gender-affirming care. More than 76 bills have become law, more than double last year, according to the HRC.
While there are no official estimates of how many LGBTQ+ people and families are relocating, it’s a growing number, says Anita R. Blue, a Realtor® in Houston and president-elect of the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance. It’s an issue that’s increasingly spilling over into the housing market.
“Housing’s going to suffer,” says Blue. “People don’t want to live or buy a home in a state where they don’t feel safe.”
In 2020, several months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Chapman received a three-word email from her daughter. It said, “I am trans.”
What followed was about a year of doctor’s visits, tests, and mental health evaluations before her child, now 15, began receiving puberty blockers.
Chapman explains that her child was suicidal before receiving treatment. Now, if her daughter misses a treatment, she will go through puberty—as a boy.
“If I don’t get her to a state in August where she can receive a shot, then she literally could resume puberty immediately. Her voice could drop, and there’s no fixing that,” says Chapman. “The more she passes as a [cisgender woman], the safer she is. That was our big motivation to move quickly.”
She chose Richmond because she hopes that her husband, whom she is separated from, will be able to transfer his job to one of his company’s offices there to be close to their 15-year-old and 17-year-old autistic daughter. Their oldest is away at college. Chapman started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for moving costs.
“I’m really angry. But the overwhelming feeling is I’m just heartbroken,” Chapman says through tears. “I’m exhausted, and I’m scared for my family. At this point, my children deserve to feel some peace and stability.”
Dallas-area real estate broker Bob McCranie has helped 27 clients worried about anti-LGBTQ+ harassment and legislation move out of Texas. Most are going to blue states, such as Illinois, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Colorado, or even abroad.
Last year, he started FleeTexas.com, which was followed by FleeRedStates.com. The sites help connect homebuyers and sellers to LGBTQ+ real estate agents.
“There’s a migration going on right now,” says McCranie. “We’re trying to get people out of harm’s way and to a place that’s a little bit safer.”
But moving, especially cross-country, takes money.
Those leaving red states might find that home and rental prices, as well as everything else, are much higher in blue states. Transplants are often leaving behind their support networks and essentially starting over.
Callen Jones, a Realtor® with the Dalton Wade Real Estate Group and who is based in Tampa, FL, has seen many people leave Florida due to the state’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws. This spring Jones, who identifies as transgender, helped four people sell their homes. Jones’ clients, who were self-employed or worked remotely, relocated to the Midwest and Northeast.
Last year, Florida made headlines for banning classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools for kindergarten through third grade. The law, which has since been expanded to higher grades, resulted in a teacher being investigated for showing her fifth-grade class the Disney movie “Strange World,” which has a gay character.
In May, Florida Gov. and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis signed into law legislation to restrict gender-affirming health care for transgender minors. The law also allows children who undergo treatment to be placed in the state’s temporary custody.
“A lot of our folks who are openly LGBTQ and their parents are fearful,” says Jones. “Home is so vastly important to everyone, the ability to have a home and feel safe and feel settled. If you don’t feel safe, secure, and affirmed, you’re not going to be your best self.”
Nicole, who did not want to be fully identified, moved from the Fort Worth, TX, area to Denver with her husband and 14-year-old twin boys in mid-November.
One of their twins came out as bisexual in 2019 and then as transgender a year later. He began gender-affirming health care six months later.
In February of last year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents of transgender children receiving gender-affirming care. The order was successfully challenged in the courts but is now being appealed. On Sept. 1, it will become illegal for doctors in the state to provide gender-affirming care to those under 18.
“It was urgent that we needed to leave,” says Nicole. “The thought of both of [our kids] being taken from us because we support gender-affirming care was terrifying.”
She was advised to create a “safe” folder for affidavits from people who knew the family and could testify they were good parents. Their children were advised not to answer questions from adults they didn’t know unless Nicole and her husband were present.
“I couldn’t in good conscience stay any longer,” says Nicole.
The family chose Denver, despite not having family or friends there. They had searched online for LGBTQ+-friendly places, and Colorado kept coming up.
Their three-bedroom, two-bathroom house, which they purchased in 2019, took five months to sell. They barely broke even. In November, they moved into a rental house in Denver, which was considerably more expensive.
Nicole, who is a mortgage lender, was able to continue working remotely. Her husband is retired from the Air Force. Most importantly, their son is able to continue with his treatment.
“We didn’t realize how we were living down in Texas until we got up here. This massive weight was lifted, and the fear was gone,” she says. “We feel like we can take a deep breath.”
Rey Katz’s birth name didn’t match their nonbinary gender identity. Too feminine. So they started the legal process to change it. They got an over $400 name-changing court order, a new Social Security card, a new passport, and eventually a new driver’s license.
Shortly after beginning the process, Katz began to fail credit checks.
“I show up as pre-approved for some of these cards and then, for a few years at least, I couldn’t get any of them,” Katz said.
It happened again and again, with a travel credit card that promised a deal on expensive plane tickets, with another that promised a discounted stove. Katz finalized the name change four years ago.
“As recently as last year, I was still failing credit checks,” Katz said.
And Katz isn’t the only one. Credit problems after name changes are a well-documented problem within the transgender and nonbinary communities. Katz even wrote a blog post on their website The Nonbinary Connection about it, warning others they’ll fail credit checks for a while.
Each of the consumer reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — deal with a name change differently.
Equifax files requests through its online myEquifax Dispute Center. After uploading documents that verify Social Security number, current address, new legal name and date of birth, Equifax says, you should file a dispute on your former legal name, which is called a deadname.
Experian’s policy requires similar documents: a copy of the court order, Social Security card and a utility, bank or insurance statement with your current address. They also request date of birth, all previous addresses for the past two years and a note clarifying that it’s a name change request, not a dispute over the name on a credit report.
TransUnion processed Katz’s name change the quickest, but it doesn’t have an online process and requires documentation sent by mail. They ask for a court order and a letter requesting the name change with an address, date of birth and Social Security number.
Experian promises to make this change in about 10 business days. The other two don’t provide a timeframe online.
In February last year, the Consumer Data Industry Association, which represents the credit reporting companies, published guidance for those changing their first or middle name.
A letter in response to that by a coalition of LGBTQ+ organizations called it an encouraging start, but asked credit reporting agencies to take further steps to make the process easier. They suggest suppressing deadnames from credit reports, as this can expose people as transgender to employers or landlords, and utilizing the full 9-digit Social Security number in credit check algorithms.
So far, only Experian actively suppresses deadnames from credit reports. TransUnion said in an emailed statement that they are introducing a similar process later this year, which will be voluntary instead of automatic.
Credit bureaus won’t likely implement the second suggestion to use a full Social Security number, though.
Eric Ellman, the senior vice president for public policy and legal affairs at CDIA, said the credit bureaus are cautious because of 2004 Federal Trade Commission guidance which stated that “matching on a full social will be worse for consumers” in the end. More digits, the guidance says, increases error, resulting in more “fragmented files” and making credit checking more expensive.
But still, without direct documentation of first and middle name changes from consumers, the credit reporting companies took years to update Katz’s information.
“It was an active thought in my mind that I’m glad that I’m not trying to buy a house or even rent a new place right now, because my credit check would fail at this moment,” Katz said.
The companies can, however, automatically update their information with last name changes after a person notifies their bank and creditors, the CDIA press release said. They don’t require direct requests. But after first and middle name changes, which transgender and nonbinary people commonly make, the companies require the “extra step” of notifying each of them separately.
“We’ve had over 50 years of experience changing last names for marriages, divorces, adoptions,” Ellman said. “It’s much more common.”
Luca Mauer, the executive director for the office of Student Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at Ithaca College says this logic makes it seem like transgender people “popped out of the blue a couple of years ago.”
“We just need to acknowledge and embrace the fact that trans and nonbinary people have existed throughout history,” Mauer said. “There’s a lot of ground to make up.”
Mauer changed his own name before advising students on it. Back then, he said, it was difficult to find any information about the process online. He advised students to reach out to the credit reporting companies by letter.
When Katz was going through the process in 2019, credit information was still widely unavailable. TransUnion and Experian published their guidelines early last year. Equifax published theirs in March 2021.
But Experian’s deadname suppression policy is a big sign of progress to Mauer.
“That was a source of pain for many of us older folks who have established credit,” he said. “So to find that information was just wonderful, and I can’t wait to share it with my students.”
First comes love, then comes marriage, and then comes house hunting?
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Americans are increasingly buying homes as they get engaged or married, or form other formalized relationships, and have children, according to a recent report from the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance. The alliance is a national trade group of LGBTQ+ real estate professionals and allies. The report was based on a survey filled out by nearly 400 alliance members in March.
“The LGBTQ+ community’s homeownership journey follows a very traditional cycle,” says Ryan Weyandt, CEO of the alliance. “They start as renters early in their careers and just like everybody else. Relationships, jobs, and advancements in their careers are driving homeownership. Children are also becoming more impactful in buying decisions.”
There are more than 1.2 million same-sex couples in the nation, according to U.S. Census Bureau data included in the report.
More than a third of the surveyed LGBTQ+ first-time buyers, 37.7%, said that a formalized relationship was one of the top three reasons they wanted to become homeowners. For lesbian couples, it was a much stronger motivator, with 58.4% reporting it was one of the main reasons to buy homes.
This is compared with 53.8% of straight survey respondents.
Children were another top reason that members of the LGBTQ+ purchased homes, whether their first or their fourth. It was a motivating factor for nearly 44% of survey respondents. About 29% of LGBTQ+ individuals have children, according to the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Where LGBTQ+ people want to live
Cities remained the destination of choice for members of the LGBTQ+ community as they’re just beginning their careers, often as renters. Nearly two-thirds of members of the alliance chose to live in an urban area or central part of the city with gay men more likely to pick these destinations than lesbians or straight individuals.
That’s likely because the social and dating scenes of a prospective area are important when they’re choosing a first place to live. Being in a place with a strong LGBTQ+ presence and good nightlife was also important to many younger members of the community.
However, the community isn’t monolithic. Interestingly, nearly a fifth of lesbians started their professional careers in small towns—compared with almost 5% of gay men and about 6% of straight folks.
“The LGBTQ+ community is everywhere,” says Weyandt.
Nearly half of LGBTQ+ folks bought their first homes in urban areas, compared with about a third of straight people. More than 40% purchased in the suburbs, while roughly 10% bought in small towns or rural areas.
When purchasing a home, the social, dating, and nightlife scenes weren’t top considerations. That might be because many buyers are older, in relationships, and more settled down—and they might not be as interested in partying into the wee hours.
“We value so much of the same things as everyone else,” Erin Morrison, alliance member and a Realtor® in Texas, said in a statement. “We want access to good jobs, affordability, to be near our friends and family, have loving relationships and live in welcoming communities.”
LGBTQ+ Americans still face housing discrimination
A record 520-plus anti-LGBTQ+ bills had been introduced in state legislatures as of late May, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Seventy have been enacted.
In the past year, about 29% of LGBTQ+ people said they had experienced housing discrimination or harassment, according to the Center for American Progress. And about a fifth of alliance members say that discrimination against LGBTQ+ homebuyers is on the rise.
“Discrimination and the fear of it are a pervasive problem,” says Weyandt. “Imagine your LGBTQ+ child looking for a home and having to consider so many aspects to the decision that others might not. It’s not only the home, the neighborhood, and the schools they’re looking at. It’s how will they be welcomed? Will they be welcomed? What if they have children? How will the children be received in the neighborhood, in the school district?”
Transgender buyers might have to sign forms with names that do not reflect their gender identities. Sellers might be reluctant to choose LGBTQ+ buyers. And real estate agents, landlords, and leasing agents might discriminate against members of the community.
This is leading many LGBTQ+ Americans to consider moving out of their communities and states. Some are worried about being harassed or bothered by their neighbors because of their sexual orientations or gender identities.
“The hope is this period of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rhetoric are just another blip and a barrier to overcome for the community to be fully accepted,” says Weyandt. “The most important thing we have to remember is that LGBTQ+ people are people. And we have to welcome them for who they are.”
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender home-buyers and renters must pay a premium to live in states, cities and counties that offer legal protection from discrimination.
While it is unlikely that legal protections for LGBT people increase home values, the fact that these jurisdictions are more expensive has a disproportionate impact on LGBT buyers and renters who aspire to live there, Zillow reported.
To identify price differences across regions with and without local legal protections, Zillow analyzed the typical cost of buying a home in states, cities and counties that have laws in place to protect LGBT buyers from housing discrimination. Protections include being evicted, denied housing, or refused the ability to rent or buy housing based on sexual orientation or gender identity. While these premiums pertain to buyers, LGBT renters also feel the effects – given that high home values generally correlate with high rents. The same situation with condos for sale. Fodyo.com provides high quality service to protect your interest.
National housing and employment non-discrimination laws protect classes such as sex, race, age, color, religion, and national origin. The Supreme Court on Monday affirmed job protections for people who identify as LGBT, but explicit protections against housing discrimination do not exist at the federal level, and vary significantly based on local jurisdictions. Currently, only 22 U.S. states and the District of Columbia offer statewide laws explicitly prohibiting housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Typical home values in those jurisdictions with legal protections are about $127,000 higher than home values in places without those laws – about $328,575 compared to $201,462. Many of these jurisdictions also offer the LGBT community legal protections beyond housing, including employment and public accommodation protections. While it’s not the specific legal protections bumping up home values in these states, those who identify as LGBT, among other buyers and renters, are paying more to buy or rent in areas that offer protections through anti-discriminatory policies.
LGBT buyers in Hawaii, Washington, D.C., and California can expect to pay the biggest premium to live in an area with those protections. Home values in Hawaii are about 219% higher than the typical home values in areas with no protections. Washington, D.C., is a close second at 218% higher, followed by California at 187%. Iowa is the only state with explicit protections for LGBT homebuyers where the typical home costs less than in places without protections – 23% less. More than 70% of LGBT buyers report making at least one sacrifice to stay at or below budget, compared to 58% of cisgender heterosexual buyers, according to data gathered for Zillow’s 2019 Consumer Housing Trends Report, and the 2020 edition scheduled to be released later this year. Such sacrifices include buying a home in worse condition, without desired finishes, and smaller than initially planned.
States without anti-discrimination laws for the LGBT community often have cities and counties that do provide legal protections, but those still largely come at a premium. For example, Austin, Texas, has local regulations protecting LGBT homebuyers from housing discrimination. The typical home value in Austin is $401,999 – 90.3% higher than the state overall, and 99.5% higher than the nation in areas without protections.
“In addition to providing legal protections, there are other steps local and state governments can take to create housing markets that are more inclusive and accessible for LGBT people,” said Skylar Olsen, senior principal economist at Zillow. “We know LGBT buyers – especially LGBT buyers of color – are more likely to purchase affordable home types such as condos and townhomes. More local governments should work to allow more of these types of homes, opening up areas and neighborhoods that historically priced out many LGBT buyers. Legal protections for LGBT become more meaningful when people can afford to access them.”
Mike Wheatley is the senior editor at Realty Biz News. Got a real estate related news article you wish to share, contact Mike at [email protected]
In response to increased anti-LGBTQ+ legislation efforts in the U.S. in 2023, the Human Rights Campaign has declared what it calls a state of emergency for members of the LGBTQ+ community. It also released new state-by-state guidance on issues for the community in various states.
On June 6, the LGBTQ+ lobbying group released a guidebook aimed at the 75-plus bills that have been implemented in 2023 to restrict LGBTQ+ persons. They include more than 200 proposed bills targeting transgender youth.
The warning from the HRC comes at the beginning of Pride Month when hundreds of thousands of people will travel across the country to attend Pride parades.
It also follows a slate of anti-gay laws signed into law in places like Florida, where some Pride events have been canceled due to fears over safety. The NAACP issued a travel warning for Florida, saying the state has become hostile ” … toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”
We asked the HRC for a statement on potential travel warnings but did not receive a response in time for publication. However, the HRC report offers insights into the group’s decision to issue the warning and guidance.
“In 2023, we entered a new phase of legislative attacks, with bills passing in many states designed to erase entire communities of people under the law,” the HRC report says. “These new laws create dangerous situations and keep people from being able to participate in public life. More than 525 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in 41 states in 2023 alone, with 220+ specifically targeting transgender youth.”
The report considers actions taken by states, such as banning drag shows, promoting conversion therapy and opposing gender-affirming care. It also includes states’ stance on bathrooms based on transgender identification and participation in school sports by transgender students. Additionally, the HRC outlines states with legislation like the LGBTQ+ Erasure Act, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, pronoun refusal laws and forced student outing laws.
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HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
The HRC says its guide is “designed to support all individuals and families regardless of their choices or options” and also provides resources for those in affected states.
For example, the HRC suggests visitors and locals review its State Equality Index, a comprehensive report of statewide laws and policies affecting members of the LGBTQ+ community and their families. The HRC also encourages people to examine its Municipality Equality Index for a more in-depth look at laws in specific cities. For more resources, the HRC provides an interactive State Maps feature outlining relevant laws and policies related to non-discrimination, healthcare and youth, among other issues that affect members of the LGBTQ+ community.
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This year so far, the HRC notes that 41 states have introduced more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills, including 22 states that now restrict participation in school sports by transgender students and 10 states that restrict restroom access for transgender students. It also notes that 19 states have bans on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender and nonbinary minors, with one additional bill on a governor’s desk as of the report’s publication.
Nationally, much attention has focused on recent Florida legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis impacting schools, including legislation restricting educational materials, such as books and teacher instruction related to gender and sexuality, along with legislation that prohibits transgender people from using restrooms in publicly owned spaces like airports.
“In 11 states, school personnel can either misgender transgender students, be forced to “out” them to their parents — even if that puts the student in danger at home — or be bound by ‘Don’t Say LGBTQ+’ laws that restrict their ability even to acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ+ people,” the HRC report says.
“Several states have combined administrative attacks on transgender youth and their families with legislative attacks, including Florida, Missouri and Texas,” the HRC report continues. “Several of these laws have been enjoined by federal courts, and dozens of additional lawsuits have been filed in recent months.”
According to the lawsuits filed in a U.S. district court in Michigan, the alleged events occurred amid the mortgage lender’s return-to-work policy during the Covid-19 pandemic. UWM forced employees to return to the office on July 9, 2021, per the lawsuits.
Kassandra Memmer, hired as a conventional underwriter in September 2019, sued the company in April 2023. Memmer says she quit her job after the lender forced her to return to work despite a doctor’s note outlining her leave of absence to ensure her health and that of her unborn child.
“In June of 2021, Defendant started removing barriers from desks, removing hand sanitizer machines, and not being strict on mask mandates,” the plaintiff’s attorney states in the lawsuit. “She had no choice: she either chose her family or her job.”
Her partner Jackson Memmer, a transgender man, started working at UWM as a conventional underwriter in August 2019. In a lawsuit filed in late May 2023, he alleges he was fired due to an investigation into clearing conditions with appraisals done when he was on paternity leave. The former underwriter was told he was being let go in December 2021, per the lawsuit.
A spokesperson for UWM said the company “does not comment on legal matters that are currently pending.”
Kassandra Memmer accuses the company of not paying her final bonus for June 2021 for files completed over daily commitment. Meanwhile, Jackson Memmer alleges he did not receive his final bonus from November 2021, which should be roughly $5,000.
The plaintiffs complained to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) about the discriminatory treatment and received a right-to-sue letter, the lawsuit states.
Kassandra Memmer said she was offered a promotion to team lead but declined. However, she contacted human resources to switch to another department because “she was under a lot of stress with the brokers screaming at her and for denying the team lead position.”
She said a broker contacted her via e-mail and hit on her. The broker stated that “she was too pretty to be an underwriter and that he was going to tell her CEO Mat Ishbia to make her a model for the company,” per the lawsuit.
The leadership, according to the case, never reported the incident.
Kassandra Memmer said in the lawsuit that she had to work many overtime hours to finish files and train senior underwriters.
“Plaintiff and other underwriters were also required to do something Defendant called ‘Rise and Grind,’ which meant coming into work earlier or staying two hours more than the employee’s scheduled time, but with no compensation,” attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.
Kassandra and Jackson Memmer said that in October 2020, they bought a home with a UWM mortgage, which is when they allege UWM became aware that Jackson was a transgender man.
In early April, Bloomberg reported that with more than two-dozen current and former employees said UWM has a toxic work environment, with racial disparities, sexual harassment, drug use and bullying by managers. UWM said Bloomberg’s portrayal of a hostile workplace was “false and misleading.”