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Gary and Mike had found the perfect apartment. It was large enough to
meet their needs and best of all, they had a big front porch to sit on and
enjoy the Buffalo summer. Imagine their shock and humiliation when the
landlord informed them that they would not be allowed to use the front
porch because of “what the neighbors might think.” When the men reported
this to HOME two years ago, the fair housing specialist they spoke with
agreed that it was discrimination. Unfortunately, she was also obliged to
tell them that this form of discrimination was legal.
At
the time of the report, there were no prohibitions at the state level
against housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and the
City of Buffalo’s anti-bias ordinance could only be used if there had been
violence to a person or to property. But on December 17th,
2002, a law was passed that finally extended the same civil rights most
New York State residents take for granted to gays, lesbians, and
bisexuals.
In
a bipartisan show of support, the New York State Senate voted 34-26 to
pass the Sexual Orientation Non Discrimination Act (SONDA). The measure
was signed into law by Governor Pataki just three hours later and went
into effect January 16th of this year.
The passage of SONDA, which added sexual orientation to the list of
protected classes currently protected by the New York State Human Rights
Law (race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, marital status,
familial status, and disability) made New York the 13th state
to enact this type of legislation. In a press release for the Empire
State Pride Agenda, President Matt Foreman called the law “one of the
broadest anti-gay discrimination laws in the nation” extending not just
housing rights, but equal rights in employment, public accommodations,
education and credit.
A long time coming
To
civil rights activists it may have seemed as if this day would never
arrive. The first version of SONDA, which sought to add sex, marital
status, and sexual orientation as protected classes, was introduced in the
State Senate in February, 1971. While sex and marital status protection
eventually became law, sexual orientation was continuously passed over.
After various municipalities passed anti-bias legislation, the bill was
introduced in the New York State Assembly in 1983 and was defeated by a
narrow margin. In 1985, the measure was reintroduced as a bill
prohibiting discrimination in housing only. This was passed in the
Assembly, but was never voted on in the Senate.
In
1990, with the election of
New York’s
first openly gay or lesbian Assemblymember Deborah Glick, interest in
SONDA was revived. It was reintroduced in the Assembly in 1993, and
passed in the Assembly every year since then. Until December of last year
when the Governor indicated his strong support for the measure, it was
never allowed to come to a vote in the Senate.
HOME has long included protections against housing discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation as part of its mission. In some cases, (see
“Justice without the Law” in Insight, Fall 2001) HOME has even been
able to intervene as a civil rights organization on behalf of a client
without benefit of the law. With the long-overdue passage of SONDA, HOME
will be better able to assist clients like Gary and Mike to get the
justice they deserve—and make landlords like theirs think twice about
discriminating. |
