Sweetwater, TN Housing Authority official compares LGBT families to criminals

New evidence of troubling homophobia, transphobia, and racism surfaced in East Tennessee over the weekend.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development published new rules for equal access to housing in HUD Programs for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their families last January.  The new rules included a request for comment and assistance from the public to “help the Department in its effort to craft regulations that will effectively ensure access to HUD programs by all eligible persons regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Within days, the Executive Director of the Sweetwater Housing Authority in Monroe County, Tennessee, Vicki Barnes, mailed a letter to the Department. Barnes objected to the new regulation’s definition of “family” writing that it would lead to program abuse. Barnes claimed:

This is not a matter of discrimination. In choosing to name a group of people such as the Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), you are choosing to group together a group of people who are not of the same race but have made a personal and moral life style choice. Other groups who make a personal lifestyle choice are drug users and sellers, gang members, prostitutes, cults, and murderers.

Rather than follow the Department’s request to help ensure that LGBT people face no discrimination in HUD programs, Barnes used the opportunity to compare LGBT people and their families to criminals. Additionally, she also implied that people of different races should not be considered a family.

Barnes’ response to the Department ‘s new rules raises questions about her ability as Executive Director of the Sweetwater Housing Authority to fairly apply the new and preexisting rules. Housing discrimination based on race was outlawed long ago.  Is Barnes ignoring or encouraging discrimination in housing programs for couples and families of mixed races? What about veritable lifestyle choices like religion? Can the people of Sweetwater be guaranteed equal access to HUD programs regardless of their faith tradition?

Barnes also took it upon herself to speak for landlords participating in Sweetwater’s Section 8 Rental Assistance Programs writing that they “will choose not be bullied into housing people who have chosen a lifestyle, which goes against their moral conviction, or groups of people who will damage their property.” Does Barnes realize that she’s insulted Sweetwater’s  Section 8 landlords? She essentially put in writing that 

Sweetwater’s landlords are bigots who share her prejudiced view of law abiding families who simply want to ensure they have a roof over their heads.

How systemic is homophobia in Monroe County?

Sweetwater is less than 50 miles from Vonore in Monroe County where a lesbian couple and their family suffered a horrible hate crime more than six months ago. Carol Ann and Laura Stutte believe that their home was burned to the ground by a next-door neighbor who had threatened their lives and property. The word “QUEERS” was spray painted on the wall of a structure near the ashes of their home. The Stutte’s continue to suffer the consequences of this crime. They must pay the mortgage on their burned home and premiums to the American National Property and Casualty Insurance company that has yet to honor their commitment to investigate and process the family’s claim. The FBI has still not completed their investigation of the hate crime.

The hate crime committed against the Stuttes and Barnes’ January letter point to a systemic problem of homophobia and transphobia in Monroe County. As law enforcement authorities in Monroe County, the FBI and the Stutte’s insurance company drag their feet, they are sending the message that Monroe County condones lawlessness and bigotry.

US Census Data show that at least 54 same-sex couples reside in Monroe County (0.35%). Vicki Barnes’s letter puts these families on notice that they should not expect fair and equal treatment from Sweetwater Housing Authority programs. The new HUD rules are sorely needed in Sweetwater and Monroe County. Can Vicki Barnes be trusted to abide by them?

If law abiding citizens like the Stuttes and consumers of Sweetwater HUD programs cannot expect fair and equal treatment from the public officials, landlords and businesses who serve them, these officials should be fully investigated and disciplined. 

- Jonathan Cole

LGBTQ community may have some recourse with the TN Human Rights Commission

The Tennessee Human Rights Commission board of Commissioners held a listening session for citizens of Memphis and Shelby County last night at Bridges.

The Tennessee Human Rights Commission is an independent state agency which investigates allegations of discrimination in housing, employment, Title VI and places of public accommodations. Complaintants may report discrimination based on race, color, gender, disability, national origin, religion, creed, familial status or age (40 and over).

Noticeably absent among the unlawful bases for discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations is sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Last night, I brought copies of the latest cover article from the Memphis Flyer to the commissioners about the efforts of the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center to provide emergency housing services to lesbian, gay, bi and trangender youth to highlight the fact that these youth are being underserved and actively discriminated against when attempting to access emergency housing and shelter.

I also shared a personal story from a few years ago in which a friend and I tried to find shelter for one of these youth who called the center for help. The center's Youth Empowerment Services were not available at the time. The 18-year-old caller had just been kicked out of her family's home in Fayette County because she was transgender. We tried to find temporary housing for her in area shelters. But she was only allowed to stay over for one night before she was told she could not stay at these shelters. Shelters turned her away for "religious" reasons or told her that they could not ensure her safety. We were finally able to find a place for her to stay at a local church that welcomes all people.

The commissioners present at the listening forum were sympathetic, but they and I knew that they have no mandate under current Tennessee law to investigate or prosecute such claims of discrimination. Commissioner Jocelyn Wurzburg hoped that the commission would be able to investigate such claims in her lifetime, but she felt it would be a difficult task to expand the commission's mandate in the current legislative climate.

There was one bright spot though. The Regional Coordinator for the Memphis office of the TNHRC, Linda Reed, suggested that discrimination based on gender expression may be covered by the commission in some circumstances. Reed stated that similar claims of discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations have been successfully prosecuted under the category of gender. While the mandate of the commission's authority still falls short, such an interpretation may offer recourse to some LGBTQ citizens of Tennessee on a case by case basis.

If you have endured discrimination in the above areas within 180 days of the alleged discriminatory act, learn more about how to file a complaint with the commission on their website.

Housing discrimination finally getting much deserved attention

If you experience housing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in Tennessee, you don't have many options. In fact, you only have one option, and that's if you live in Davidson County, and it's a very limited option. You can report it to the Metro Human Relations Commission. You will not be able to get the complaint resolved because there is no local ordinance, state statute, or federal law that will rectify the discrimination you've experienced. The Tennessee Human Rights Commission, for example, does not include sexual orientation or gender identity on its complaint form.

Despite the media focus on Don't Ask, Don't Tell and marriage, housing issues are very much on the minds of many in our community. Last week someone forwarded me an email exchange about a man in Nashville who had experienced housing discrimination. The victim was shocked that no laws applied. I was also recently asked about homeless shelters that are inclusive of transgender people.

The federal government is finally paying attention to these questions. Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) has introduced a bill that would amend the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It is called the Fair and Inclusive Housing Rights Act of 2010 (H.R. 4820). Another encouraging sign is the recent announcement by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that they are going to study housing discrimination against the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community.

My guess is that the federal housing bill won't move a great deal until the study is completed, but that's no reason to hold off pushing for it. We'd love to see Congressmen Steve Cohen and Jim Cooper (and others) sign on as co-sponsors of the bill. With their support of ENDA and last year's hate crimes bill, it shouldn't be much of a stretch for them to support Congressman Nadler's legislation. Like protection from violence and employment discrimination, access to housing is one of the basics. The bill is easily in sync with the views of their constituents.

Density and conformity...

Not much of a battle cry, is it? But that's what's on the minds of some Metro Nashville Council members who want to reexamine the duplex boom in Nashville. Read about it here: http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=59519