Three weeks after US president Joe Biden signed an executive order prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans, the country’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a memorandum vowing to comply to the order. According to Them, the 1968 Fair Housing Act bans discrimination on the basis of “race, colour, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability” while purchasing or renting a property. HUD has now confirmed that LGBTQ+ people are also protected under this law.
The memorandum also stated that LGBTQ+ people can file housing discrimination complaints if the incident occured within the past 12 months. Jeanine M. Worden, acting assistant secretary of the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity office in HUD, said Biden’s anti-discrimination order “demands urgent enforcement action.” They added “Every person should be able to secure a roof over their head free from discrimination, and the action we are taking today will move us closer to that goal.”
Since coming into power in January, Biden has issued a handful of pro-LGBTQ+ executive orders. One will ensure all LGBTQ+ Americans are protected from discrimination, which Human Rights Campaign president, Alphonso David, dubbed “the most substantive, wide-ranging executive order concerning sexual orientation and gender identity ever issued by a United States president.” Biden has also pledged to fight for LGBTQ+ rights globally, saying: “We will ensure diplomacy and foreign assistance are working to promote the rights of those individuals included by combatting criminalization and promoting LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers”.
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