VA Man Triumphs Against Realtors

[Southpaw Bookworm]

In the first case of its kind, the Alexandria Human Rights Commission unanimously agreed Monday night that Long & Foster Real Estate Co. discriminated against a single gay man who wanted to buy a home in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood.

Instead, the house went to a young married couple, who continue to own it.

The commission cited the McLean-based real estate company for discriminating against Lawrence Cummings, 52, because of his marital status or his sexual orientation. The basis for its decision won't be made public for 30 days.

Long & Foster could be required to pay up to $5,000 in fines to the city of Alexandria.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/23/AR2005082301430.html

[Red_Viking]

1. You have the Venus!

Over the summer I attended a law session at the University of Innsbruck, and had the opportunity to spend some time in Vienna. I got to see the site where the Venus was found (in Willendorf, natch), and the Natural History Museum where she lives. Wow!

And, good for Mr. Cummings. I'm a native Texan (now living in Oregon), and Virginia gives TX a run for its money in the "ass-backward" department. Law school gives me the opportunity to read all kinds of cases, and the ones out of Virginia are real eye-openers about the way our justice system works, or doesn't work. Helen Prejean wrote a great book about the Death Penalty, The Death of Innocents, that covers the way Virginia handles death sentence appeals. Basically, they don't. It's shameful. So it's really no surprise that Virginia allows discrimination based on sexual orientation. Douchebags.

Peace,

RV

[Southpaw Bookworm]

2. It's pretty sad actually

This happened in Alexandria, which is in Northern Virginia, the more progressive part of the state that's an extension of DC. Yet, state laws in VA are generally made by the good ol' boys from the southern and western parts of the state. This despite the fact that most of the money NoVA taxes put in the state coffers end up supporting other locales. So, you get laws like the one that prohibits same-sex persons not related by blood from entering into contracts together: which means that a gay couple can't get a mortgage together and that documents such as the ones that give the partner the right to make medical decisions if the other is incapacitated are worthless. I'm straight, but the fact that my tax dollars supported shit like that were a major reason why I left. The idea of buying a home in VA made me feel dirty.

But thanks for the Willendorf love!