[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 98 (Thursday, June 8, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S3365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. 
        Warren, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Leahy, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Wyden, Mr. 
        Markey, Mr. Franken, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Booker, Mr. Blumenthal, 
        Ms. Cortez Masto, and Mr. Brown):
  S. 1328. A bill to extend the protections of the Fair Housing Act to 
persons suffering discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or 
gender identity, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, today, I am introducing the Fair and Equal 
Housing Act of 2017, legislation to ensure equal housing opportunities 
for all Americans. This bill would protect Americans from housing 
discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. No 
American should be turned away from a home they love because of who 
they love.
  I am a former civil rights attorney. And during my practice, I 
focused on fair housing and I learned that a home is more than just a 
door, a roof, rooms, and walls. Your home is critical to your identity 
and central to the life of every American.
  And a home becomes even more important when you are searching for a 
safe, stable place to live. But, say you run into problems as you're 
trying to rent that dream apartment and it is not because you are not a 
good tenant or a good neighbor. Instead, you learn that the apartment 
you wanted is suddenly no longer available because, after you met the 
landlord in person, they don't approve of your personal life or your 
appearance. Or you learn your rental application cannot be processed 
because you and your partner share the same sex.
  Housing discrimination is real. And it is a reality for LGBT 
Americans because of incomplete protections in the Fair Housing Act 
(FHA), the landmark federal housing law. The FHA only prohibits housing 
discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, 
familial status, or disability. And if someone thinks this is not a 
real problem, more than 20 states and over 200 localities protect 
sexual orientation and gender identity in their own housing 
discrimination statutes.
  This is about equality, plain and simple. I want to thank my fellow 
Virginian, Representative Scott Taylor, for his leadership on this 
issue. I also want to thank all the civil rights attorneys across the 
nation who fight for justice on this issue every day. This is the right 
thing to do.
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