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Denied Our Property Rights By Legislators We Endorse

By Bob McCranie

Real Estate Broker/Owner with Broker Associate / Team Lead - Texas Pride Realty Group 0503820 TX

May 07, 2015 05:32 PM

Marriage Equality is a Property Rights issue. There can be no debate that when people are legally married they have rights to the real property owned by their spouse prior to marriage. Both spouses have to sign when purchasing or selling any property they own during the marriage. There are also specific inheritance rights that married people enjoy the moment they say "I DO". Marriage Equality is a property rights issue.

The National Assocation of Realtors seems to be on track with supporting Marriage Eqality and protecting LGBT clients from discrimination via "Religious Freedom" bills. Yet in Texas, our politicians, endorsed by TREPAC (Texas Real Estate Political Action Committee) are CLAMORING to sign up as sponsors and co-authors for bills that deny marriage rights and that enshrine open discrimination into our state. Our Code of Ethics Article 10 states that we, as REALTORS, will not discriminate based on a variety of protected classes, yet the legislators we endorse and support financially, seem happy to ring the bell of homophobia to get the voters out.

I've written several blogs reasoning out the finer points of the argument (see links below). It's unfair to LGBT Realtors and our Clients to leave us unprotected and unrepresented simply because our rights are inconvenent to the larger association.

Here are some facts about Texas.

-- HOMOPHOBIA GETS YOU ELECTED.
-- HOMOPHOBIA DOES NOT PREVENT FUTURE ENDORSEMENTS OR DONATIONS.

Tomorrow the Texas Legislature will take up HB 4105, authored by Rep Cecil Bell (above), a bill which would bar use of public funds to issue or recognize a marriage license for same-sex couples. The legislators are doing this to try to blog the US Supreme Court ruling expected to come down in June or July. This bill, if voted into law, will fail in the courts, but in the mean time these legislators can beat up on some gay folks and rally their base. Homophobia sells.

So, on this important issue of Property Rights for LGBT Texans, where is our industry? The author of the bill, Rep Cecil Bell, is in good company with 60 other TREPAC endorsed legislators with total donations of $355,000, who jumped at the chance to deny LGBT people PROPERTY RIGHTS.

As a Texas Broker, as a member of the Texas, Houston & Collin County Association of Realtors and as the state leader of the National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals, I say this must stop. Per records on VoteSmart.org TREPAC/TAR has contributed over $355,000 to these specific leaders.

If TREPAC is truly about Property Rights for all Texans, I submit they MUST take stand on property rights for our community. Have a voice. Now is the time.

List of Authors, Joint Authors and CoAuthors for HB 4105 and the amount of money reported on VoteSmart.org that the Realtor Associations have contributed.