Vermont's laws have prohibited housing discrimination against LGB people for nearly two decades.  At long last, the federal government is beginning to compile data on the incidence of housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation around the country.  Here's what HUD has to say:

Online 'suggestion box' seeks to inform HUD on design of historic research

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today launched a new website to allow citizens to offer comment on the design of an unprecedented national study that will examine housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. While there have been no national assessments of housing discrimination targeting the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) community, there is a body of evidence suggesting this sort of bias exists.

HUD recently hosted town hall meetings in Chicago, San Francisco and New York City to solicit feedback on how it might approach such ground-breaking research. This 'online suggestion box' is intended to offer the public throughout the U.S. an opportunity to comment on HUD's study.

"It is critical that as we embark on this historic discrimination study, that we hear from those who may have been denied housing based on their sexual orientation or gender identity," said Dr. Raphael Bostic, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. "The comments we received in our town hall meetings, and those we will gather from this new website, will help inform how we might test for housing discrimination in the sale or rental of housing based on LBGT status."

While there are no national assessments of LGBT housing discrimination, there are state and local studies that have shown this sort of bias. For example, Michigan's Fair Housing Centers found that nearly 30 percent of same-sex couples were treated differently when attempting to buy or rent a home.

HUD's new LGBT website will seek suggestions on how best to execute the study. For example, how would a 'tester' signal in a conversation with a landlord that an individual or couple was LGBT? The website is not designed for users to lodge complaints about a particular incident. However, if you believe you have been a victim of housing discrimination, you may file an online complaint, or call HUD's Housing Discrimination Hotline at 1-800-669-9777.

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HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to sustaining homeownership; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development and enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.

The last hurdle to Washington, D.C.'s freedom to marry was crossed on February 26.  On that day, the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals unanimously denied a Maryland minister's requested injunction to block the new law from taking effect.

A California court decision affirming a non-biological mother's parental status was left unchanged by the U.S. Supreme Court.  On February 22, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the appeal of a lesbian mother seeking to prevent her former partner from continuing a parental relationship with the daughter they had together.  The non-biological mother's help preparing for the child's birth and public acknowledgment of parenthood were factors in the original decision.

Good news In Indiana!  Senate Joint Resolution 13, which would have amended Indiana’s state constitution to discriminate against same-sex couples, was stopped when the Indiana House of Representatives refused to conduct a hearing on this discriminatory proposal.  According to Indiana Equality, "Friends of fairness and equality generated nearly 15,000 e-mails and letters to State Legislators urging them to reject SJR-13."

In Concord on Monday, New Hampshire's House of Representatives rejected a measure that would have revised the New Hampshire Constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman.  The 201-135 vote was insufficient to move the bill for a Senate vote and it will not appear on the ballot in the next general election.

An hour later, the same governing body rejected a bill that would have repealed the state's law granting equal marriage rights to same-sex couples.  The House said, "No!" in voting 210 to 109 to kill the measure.

"The vast majority of people with their families to be healthy and secure and wish this for their neighbors as well," said Mo Baxley, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition.

Learn more at the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition's website.

New Hampshire's House Judiciary Committee yesterday voted against two measures, one to repeal the state's new freedom to marry law and one to alter the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.  A full House vote is pending.

[photo courtesy NHFTM]

In some New Hampshire towns, nonbinding resolutions about the new law will appear on town meeting day ballots.  These votes will not affect the law.  Still, the residents of several towns have rejected these measures even as a nonbinding referendum, refusing to vote on the rights of their friends and neighbors. 

Civil unions had been part of New Hampshire law for about a year when the legislature approved full marriage rights in May 2009.  Same-sex couples began marrying in New Hampshire at midnight on January 1, 2010.

Visit the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition for more information and to get involved.