April, 1989 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE Page 7
INSIDE
NSIDE THE WASHINGTON LOBBY
by Chai Feldblum
and Laura Markowitz
Fair Housing-For Everyone
Passing legislation is the first step in the lobby world. But the second stepmaking sure the law does what you want it to do is equally important.
The story of the Fair Housing Amendments Act is a perfect example.
President Ronald Reagan signed the Fair Housing Amendments Act in September. The act prohibits those who rent or sell a private dwelling from discriminating against the disabled. Lobbyists had been trying to get the act passed since 1980.
For AIDS lobbyists, the act was critical because it provided the first clear protection in the private sector for people with AIDS and HIV infection.
However, even after the act was made law, the fight continued. The wording of the act covers people who have a "handicap." All court cases argued on the issue had held that both AIDS and HIV infection, even asymptomatic HIV infection, are disabilities (or "handicaps"), covered by federal law. Indeed, during passage of the act, members of Congress had referred to those cases, and had explicitly stated that both AIDS and HIV infection were covered under the act.
After a law is passed, it falls to the agencies-in this case, the Department of Housing and Urban Development — to implement it. HUD issued proposed regulations for the implementation of the act on January 7. The proposed rules were clear about the scope and purpose of the "direct threat" amendment. But lobbyists thought HUD should have
CAMPIN' OUT
by Patty M.
Just Cause
Got a cause? You're supposed to. We're gay, and gay folks are supposed to support causes. That is, when we're not interior decorating, floral arranging, tuning up cars and/or arm wrestling. At least that's what they think. And if that's what they think, well, it might as well be written in stone. Right?
Okay. So there might be a tad of truth at the base of some stereotypes. I'm much more comfortable designing your dinner party invitations than I am bringing a covered dish to an event. ("Oh, Patty, what's this? Why, it's . . . a scrambled egg and corn casserole. How ... uh . . . utterly... yellow. That's it, yellow!") You can count on my dear friend Michael to whip up a gourmet snack for you while Gayle rolls under the van to check the brake line. And then there's the boys living downstairs who created my living room curtains using iron-on tape, no less. (Foolish fellows thought I'd have a sewing machine!) We're gifted, artsy AND resourceful.
We're also concerned and socially aware. Well, aren't we? We're the ones to whom our co-workers hand over stray animals. ("S/he doesn't have any children. What's another cat to her/him?" So what if you already have twelve hairball machines in a onebedroom apartment. Compassion dominates sensibilities.) We're part of the volunteer staff at the city clinics. We support doings at the Lesbian-Gay Community Center. We foster kids and play Big Brother and Big Sister to children who need a safe, sane place to call home. We serve meals to the hungry. We even teach current ent birth control methods to disinterested little straight girls who are determined to get knocked up anyway. (Okay, so maybe that is a bit unfair. Nine out of ten of them are using the "Ifl Close My Eyes I Won't Get Pregnant" method
been even more clear in stating that people with AIDS and HIV infection were covered under the law, to dispel any possible questions.
A 30-day comment period followed, according to law, allowing citizens to voice concerns about HUD's proposed regulations. Those concerned with AIDS issues worked quickly, appealing to civil rights groups to submit comments urging HUD to explicitly note that HIV infection was covered under the act. The Consortium of Citizens with Developmental Disabilities submitted comments on behalf of 20 disability groups, requesting that HUD explicitly recognize that people with AIDS and HIV infection were covered under the law and requesting, as well, that HUD list HIV infection among the illustrations of "physical or mental impairments." The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights-composed of traditional civil rights groups-sent HUD a similar comment.
These comments focused on the fact that members of Congress had spent a great deal of time and energy discussing the issue of covering AIDS and HIV infection under the act. Attorneys involved in AIDS cases cited instances when members of Congress had discussed the coverage of AIDS and HIV infection.
Three supportive members of Congress submitted detailed comments to HUD on the entire proposed regulations, including a statement on coverage of AIDS and HIV infection. Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Rep. Don Edwards, D-Calif., sent HUD a joint comment in which they wrote, “In particular we want to ensure that both people with AIDS and individuals who have been infected with...HIV but are not showing any
not all!)
As for me, I've had my share of causes. I've done the women's clinics, staffed a telephone crisis hotline, pulled overnight shifts at a shelter for runaway kids, worked the first-aid vehicle at rock concerts; a little march here, some petition work there. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking it. It's all critically important work and somebody has to do it. But I'm now on a solo mission... determined to end litter as we know it within our lifetime.
Scoff if you must. Yes, laugh when you see me armed with my plastic Stop-nShop bag and a fierce look of righteous determination. But ask those closest to me. I'm a person with a purpose and proud of it. To me, litter is a serious problem. We go about our day-to-day business acting as though some cosmic cleaning service will follow in our wake, sweeping away traces or our trashy little habits. No No Nanette! T'ain't like that at all.
I
From McD wrappers to Matilda Bay sixpacks. How about a car-ashtray worth of canceled butts or those Christmas trees you see blowing down the street till mid-February dragging one of those ineffective white bags some yutz got on a deal at Marc's. I've seen it all. And may say, frankly I'm distressed. When did this happen? Cleveland didn't look like this when I was growing up. Was it that long ago? You could even walk barefoot back then. Remember that? No shoes? Now you risk a heel-on collision with a twist-off bottle top, a remnant of a 7-11 Big Gulp or worse. It's treacherous out there, I tell you.
And if we adults are bad, the little darlings we're raising aren't much better. I work around teenagers. There's chewing tobacco, wads of gum bigger that your fist, hand-crushed pop cans and last week's edition of the Scene. I was dis-
gusted to see them spitting in the halls of their suburban sehool and thought they
manifest symptoms of the virus, are understood to be 'individuals with handicaps' protected by the Act..."
In 30 days, HUD had received more than 5,000 comments on their proposed regulations to the act.
Efforts during the comment period paid off. On Jan. 23, when HUD published its final rules, a special section had been added to the preamble to address the question of HIV infection. It reads: "Another group of commenters asked HUD to clarify that persons who are infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV' or 'AIDS virus') are understood to be persons with a 'handicap' protected by the [Fair Housing Amendments] Act. The legislative history of the Act contains numerous statements that HIV-infected individuals are covered by the Act..."
HUD also referred to a September 1988 memo from the Department of Justice that said HIV infection is a handicap. That memo, says HUD's preamble, makes it clear that HIV infection must be included in the Fair Housing Amendments Act.
"In light of these authorities the Department [HUD] has added '[HIV] infection' to the illustrative list of 'physical or mental impairments' in the final rule's definition of handicap," the final rules read.
Litigators around the country will benefit from this explicit addition in the regulations. If someone with HIV infection or AIDS is discriminated against, HUD or a private lawyer will be able to argue, without significant objection, that that person is protected under the act. It also may act as a deterrent to discrimination, since it puts landlords on notice that they cannot discriminate against those
should be certified "terminally uncivilized" until an inner-city teacher enlightened me by explaining her students were whizzing in the stairwells. Where's Freddy Krueger when you need him the most?
Last August I took off from work to ride the rapid downtown and support the parade of Vietnam vets who marched as Fire Base Weekend opened. I stood Continued on Page 14
individuals without penalty.
While courts have consistently been ruling that AIDS and HIV infection are covered as handicaps and thus deserve civil rights protection under existing law, the Reagan administration was slow to catch up.
Through a concerted effort by members of Congress and concerned citizens, that is changing. The Department of Justice memo was the first important step in that direction. HUD's regulations is the second, and each step builds on the last.
With the authority and responsibility to administer the Fair Housing Amendments Act, HUD will hopefully be a strong player in monitoring civil rights violations. But everyone across the country has to be a player, too.
If you are experiencing discrimination in housing because you have AIDS or HIV infection, you now have a legal recourse. Get in touch with a national AIDS legal group or a lawyer. The law took effect March 12. Let's use it.
Next month: The Armstrong anti-gay amendment-where is it now?
Chai Feldblum is an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union AIDS project.
Laura Markowitz is an editor of a national magazine and a lesbian activist.
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