So What Else Is New?

Sometimes it is very obvious to us but we need research to prove it to legislators. When we were passing the gender inclusive non-discrimination law and the conversion therapy ban the opposing legislators kept on saying it wasn't needed… they said show us.

There is no housing discrimination unless you have the facts!

Well in North Dakota they now have the proof.

North Dakota fair housing study finds discrimination against transgender community
The Dickerson Press
By Amy Dalrymple / Bismarck Tribune
December 15, 2018

BISMARCK — A recent study by the High Plains Fair Housing Council shows transgender people are experiencing high levels of discrimination when seeking housing in North Dakota.

The nonprofit conducted 15 tests to determine if transgender testers received different treatment when looking for housing than people who are not transgender.

“What happened most of the time is I would be treated way differently than the control tester,” said Rebel Marie, a transgender woman from Fargo who coordinated the testing.

Michelle Rydz, executive director of the High Plains Fair Housing Council, said the nonprofit conducted the testing in anticipation that North Dakota legislators may consider another proposal next year to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

There findings…

• 80 percent of transgender testers were shown fewer housing units or inferior units than the control testers.
• 70 percent of transgender testers experienced subtle forms of discrimination, such as no eye contact or handshake or refusal to use proper pronouns.
• 60 percent of transgender testers were asked prying questions that the control testers were not asked.

The fair housing test involved 15 pairs who had similar characteristics, such as race, age, education, household size and income. The single variable that differed between the testers was comparing transgender to non transgender, or cisgender.

The matched pairs followed a script so they would ask similar questions and tried to talk to the same person at each property management company, Marie said. The tests were conducted no more than a week apart.

And the problems didn’t end there,

In one case, an employee of a property management company later found Marie on social media and harassed her.

“They just went out of their way to make sure I knew their attitude,” she said.

But here and around the country many times the discrimination doesn’t get reported, the 2015 Trans Survey found that,

Nearly one-quarter (23%) of respondents experienced some form of housing discrimination in the past year, such as being evicted from their home or denied a home or apartment because of being transgender.
[…]
Six percent (6%) of respondents were denied a home or apartment in the past year because they were transgender, with transgender women of color, including Black (17%), multiracial (15%), and Latina (11%) women, being more likely to have this experience.
[…]
Five percent (5%) of respondents were evicted from their home or apartment in the past year because of anti-transgender bias. Differences emerged by demographic characteristics, where undocumented residents (18%), people with disabilities7 (8%), and people of color, including American Indian (9%) and Black (9%) respondents, were more likely to report this experience. Overall, nearly one-third (30%) of respondents to whom these housing situations applied—23% of all respondents—experienced one or more forms of housing discrimination or instability in the past year because they were transgender. Respondents who were currently working in the underground economy (59%) and those who had been kicked out of the house by their family at some point in their lives because they were transgender (59%) were nearly twice as likely to report one or more of these experiences. Undocumented residents (50%) and transgender women of color were also more likely have had one or more of these experiences, including Black (49%), multiracial (39%), American Indian (39%), and Latina (37%) women

One person responded to the survey saying,

“I was ejected from my apartment while I was out of town after my landlord discovered I was trans. The apartment was empty when I returned home.’’

Connecticut is no different than other parts of the country; many of the cases never get reported. Here in Connecticut a housing non-profit has thought about doing something like this but so far it is not needed, among the that were reported to the non-profit the cases that I heard about the landlords have caved-in when confronted with discrimination.

Why don’t the cases get reported?

Many trans people fear that it will affect their ability to get an apartment, many fear that it will out them, and so just chalk it up to the price of being trans.

In certain circumstances their fears are justified, if you file a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities it is a public record. The non-profit Connecticut Fair Housing Center will keep your identity secret so they are a good place to contact first to see if they can help you.