Res. No. 1961

Resolution calling on President Obama to issue an Executive Order that would prohibit discrimination in federally-assisted housing on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

By Council Members Garodnick, Mendez, Barron, Brewer, Dickens, Ferreras Fidler, Gennaro, Koppell, Liu, Mark-Viverito, Mealy, Nelson, Sanders Jr., Sears, Weprin and White

                     Whereas, In 1962, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 11063, which prohibited discrimination in federally assisted housing on the basis of race, color, creed or national origin; and

                     Whereas, Executive Order 11063 was amended in 1980 to include discrimination on the basis of sex, and in 1994 to include discrimination on the basis of disability and familial status; and

                     Whereas, In 1968, the U.S. Congress passed the Fair Housing Act, which prohibited discrimination in housing-related transactions on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability; and

                     Whereas, Despite progressive housing laws that have been enacted since the birth of the civil rights movement, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (“LGBT”) community routinely face discrimination when seeking housing throughout the United States; and

                     Whereas, There are more than four million units of federally assisted housing in the United States; and

                     Whereas, LGBT residents of cities and states that have not enacted protections against discrimination in housing for sexual orientation and gender identity may find themselves at a severe disadvantage should they ever encounter economic hardship; and

Whereas, Denial of federal housing assistance to qualified individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity is an affront to anyone who believes in equal rights and is a grave injustice to all members of the LGBT community; and

                     Whereas, Access to federal housing assistance is a right that should be made available to all qualifying individuals; and

                     Whereas, The federal government has a special responsibility to make certain that such discrimination plays no role with respect to housing units that are federally assisted; and

                     Whereas, Human rights laws in New York City and New York State already preclude discrimination in housing on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity; and

                     Whereas, The New York City Housing Authority also has a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity; and

                     Whereas, New York State and New York City’s prohibition against discrimination in housing on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity can serve as a model upon which other municipalities’ laws could be based; and

                     Whereas, A federal ban on discrimination in housing on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity would also help strengthen existing nondiscrimination laws in our City and State; and

                     Whereas, Just as President Kennedy initiated the government’s participation in the modern civil rights movement, so too must President Obama continue along that path and expand protections to include people with different sexual orientations and gender identities; now, therefore, be it

                     Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon President Obama to issue an Executive Order that would prohibit discrimination in federally-assisted housing on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

DMB

LS# 7233

3/27/09