If I were looking to rent a two-bedroom apartment in Grand Junction, Colo., I’m not sure I would accept Mark Holmes’s personal political bias lying down.
According to The Daily Sentinel, a local newspaper, Holmes, a landlord, has placed an ad that reads:
For rent: Downtown apartment, 2 bedrooms. Includes organic garden space, hot tub, great backyard. You can bring your dogs if they have references as good as yours. If voting for Donald Trump, do not call. [Emphasis added]
“I don’t know what to do anymore about what’s going on in this country,” Holmes is quoted is saying. “It’s just a mess.”
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
I can commiserate with Holmes’s feelings of desperation. Many Americans share those same feelings, including, I suspect, a number of those who have aligned behind Trump.
Yet, a report by CBS Denver, which claims that Holmes “is not breaking the law,” may be a bit facile. The article notes:
Some [callers who left voice messages for Holmes] thought … he was violating federal housing rules by discriminating against political affiliations, but that’s not the case, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“That has nothing to do with the Fair Housing Act,” HUD spokesman Jerry Brown told The Daily Sentinel.
Maybe so … but maybe not.
If you peruse the Fair Housing Act, you find it is clear in its prohibition against refusing to sell or rent housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or handicap.
The list, however, is incomplete. Notice that it doesn’t include gender, which according the American Psychological Association (and contemporary liberal gospel) is distinct from sex.
It is impossible to say in advance that a liberal judge who legislates from the bench wouldn’t consider adding this missing protected class. That in turn could set a precedent for adding other classes, such as political affiliation.
To clarify, I am not looking for a two-bedroom apartment in Grand Junction, Colo. But if I were, and if the space Mark Holmes is looking to rent seemed right and I were a Trump supporter, I would sue the bastard.
