Advocacy Archive - For Civil Minds

Archive for the ‘Advocacy’ Category

Thank you.

Posted on May 3rd, 2013 by ERC

Rabbi Bruce Kahn presents an award to retiring Board President James G. Macdonell. Both men were founding members of the ERC.

Thank you for making the Equal Rights Center’s 30^th anniversary such a success. Thank you for being a valued partner. Thank you for being an advocate. Thank you for any role that you play in the daunting task of ending discrimination and advancing equality for ALL.

It is difficult to believe that a small local fair housing organization, founded by five inter-faith religious leaders from diverse backgrounds working out of a borrowed office, would become one of the most dynamic, multifaceted national civil rights organizations in the country.

Today, the ERC promotes equal opportunity in housing, employment, and access to public accommodations and government services while being an invaluable resource for many individuals, advocacy groups, government agencies, housing developers, architectural firms, restaurateurs, and other businesses and corporations. Reflecting the growth from the ERC’s founding,, our 30^th anniversary brought together individuals and entities from all facets of the ERC’s current efforts.

The ERC’s success and our work are impossible without our members and our partners. You serve as the eyes and ears of the ERC, letting us know when and where discrimination is happening and being part of the proactive efforts to promote equal opportunity. With your help, the ERC now has 6,000 members in all 50 states, more than 300 civil rights testers, and programs dedicated to making a national impact advancing fair housing, fair employment, disability rights, immigrant rights, and LGBT rights. (more…)

Categorized as Advocacy, Civil Rights, Corporate Partnerships and Training, Disability Rights, Fair Employment, Fair Housing, Government Services, Immigrant Rights, LBGT Rights, Source of Income, Testing
Tags: 30th Anniversary, equal rights center

Corporate Partners Helping Us Celebrate 30 Years of Promoting Progress!

Posted on May 3rd, 2013 by ERC

(from left to right) Afi Edim from JBG Companies, Lina Owata from W.H.H. Trice and Vera McPherson from W.H.H. Trice pose for a quick snapshot. Many of our corporate partners attended our 30th anniversary reception.

The ERC’s 30th anniversary celebration showed exceptional corporate citizens taking an even larger stake in the national movement to end discrimination. Partners from many business sectors – housing developers, architects, restaurateurs, advocates, and government officials, who work daily with the ERC’s Corporate Partnerships & Training (CPT) Program – came together to celebrate and support equal opportunity.

The ERC’s partners include the many members of the Multifamily Housing Resource Program (MHRP), a program designed to promote accessible housing for all, as well as single family housing developers, accessibility consultants, local and national law firms, and many others.

Thank you to all the ERC’s partners and sponsors for honoring the ERC’s three decades of civil rights work, and helping to ensure 30 more years of the ERC promoting equal opportunity! (more…)

Categorized as Advocacy, Civil Rights, Corporate Partnerships and Training
Tags: 30th Anniversary, Corporate Partnerships & Training, equal rights center, MHRP

Report Documents Obstacles for Latinos Seeking Housing in the Commonwealth of Virginia

Posted on April 29th, 2013 by ERC

When he signed the Fair Housing Act, President Johnson said one of the “promises of a century” was “fair housing for all [as] part of the American way of life.” Unfortunately, even 45 years after President Johnson’s pen stroke transformed the Fair Housing Act into law; equal opportunity in the rental housing market continues to elude segments of the American population.

On April 30, the conclusion of Fair Housing Month, the Equal Rights Center (ERC) and the national law firm Drinker, Biddle & Reath, LLP released a civil rights testing-based report revealing that Latinos seeking rental housing across the Commonwealth of Virginia experienced at least one form of adverse treatment as compared to their white counterparts in 55 percent of inquiries. The report, “Precaución: Obstacles for Latinos in the Virginia Rental Housing Market”, is based on a series of 106 tests.

The ERC conducted 106 matched-pair, in-person civil rights tests of rental properties in regions throughout the Commonwealth: the City of Fairfax, the City of Richmond and Henrico County, Loudoun County, Prince William County and Manassas, Roanoke County, Northwest Virginia (covering Augusta, Culpeper, Frederick, and Rockingham Counties), and Virginia Beach. In over half of tests (55 percent), the Latino tester received adverse, differential treatment as compared to the white tester in at least one respect, including: (more…)

Categorized as Advocacy, Civil Rights, Fair Housing
Tags: Commonwealth of Virginia, Drinker Biddle and Reath, equal rights center, fair housing, fair housing act, housing discrimination, immigration, Latino; civil rights testing; reports

What Is Fair Housing?

Posted on April 16th, 2013 by ERC

Fair housing is more than just a mix of complex jargon, laws, polices and regulations. Equal access to housing of one’s choice represents something much greater. Fair housing means being able to send children to good schools. It means access to transportation and employment opportunity. It means being able to take advantage of opportunities in a safe community.

The 12^th Annual D.C. Fair Housing Symposium will move beyond experts talking to experts in an effort to build awareness and encourage action on fair housing issues often ignored or misunderstood. This year, the day-long symposium aims to attract activists and others who work with communities targeted for discrimination but currently do not incorporate fair housing advocacy into their work. The conference will provide attendees with a better understanding of housing discrimination, and how it affects the lives of the people they serve.

Understanding fair housing and how housing discrimination affects individuals is especially important in today’s environment. The District is rapidly changing. Over the past decade, the population has soared past 600,000 for the first time in the city’s history. The racial makeup of the District has changed dramatically, with an influx of white residents where it had been predominantly African American. The cost of living is among the highest in the nation. Real estate developers and businesses have gravitated into historically low-income neighborhoods, impacting the affordability and local culture. Demographics are shifting quickly. (more…)

Categorized as Advocacy, Civil Rights, Fair Housing
Tags: 12th Annual D.C. Fair Housing Symposium, advocacy, department of housing and community development, equal rights center, fair housing, fair housing act, Mt. Vernon, office of human rights, Shaw

Defense of Marriage Act – Unequal and Outdated

Posted on March 22nd, 2013 by ERC

By Scott Hoffman, ERC Communications Intern

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court is slated to hear Windsor v. United States, a case challenging the constitutionality of section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). If DOMA is struck down, legally married same-sex couples would receive all the federal rights and benefits already granted to heterosexual married couples, including Social Security payments, American residency for foreign spouses and health insurance coverage.

As a gay male living in Maryland, a state that recently legalized marriage equality; I hope that the Court strikes down DOMA, as it may directly influence future choices in my own life.

With its passage in 1996, DOMA established marriage on the federal level as exclusively between one man and one woman. Not only viewed as unfair by many individuals, the law also resulted in discrepancies in states where same-sex marriage is legal. For example, a lesbian couple who is legally married in Massachusetts would be expected to file joint state income tax returns, but would be prohibited from filing their federal returns jointly. In Windsor, the plaintiff was legally married to her wife in New York and recognized by the state as a married couple, but was required to pay federal estate taxes after her wife died, which would not be required of the surviving spouse in an opposite-sex marriage. In Windsor, the Department of Justice stated that the Administration’s position is that DOMA, signed into law by former President Bill Clinton in 1996, is unconstitutional. This position was taken after President Obama instructed the Justice Department to stop defending the constitutionality of DOMA.

Action is also being taken legislatively to address these issues. Recent sessions in Congress have produced a bill – The Respect for Marriage Act – which aims to repeal DOMA. Yet, efforts have stalled due to a lack of support. This failure is extremely puzzling when one considers the evolving attitudes of the American public. A recent Washington Post poll shows that nearly 75 percent of voters believe that marriage equality is a constitutional right. (more…)

Categorized as Advocacy, Civil Rights, LBGT Rights
Tags: DOMA, gay rights, LGBT, marriage equality, Respect for Marriage Act, SCOTUS, US Supreme Court, Windsor v. United States

D.C. Council Member Proposes To Ease Requirements for Legal Gender Change

Posted on February 22nd, 2013 by ERC

On Tuesday, D.C. Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large) introduced legislation that, if passed, will make it easier for transgender District residents to legally change their gender.

The proposed bill would amend the Vital Records Act of 1981, allowing transgender individuals to receive new birth certificates that accurately reflect their gender identity. This bill would also remove the requirement that transgender individuals must publish their name in a local newspaper for three weeks as a part of the process to legally change their gender (the D.C. Trans Coalition, a volunteer, grassroots, community-based organization dedicated to advocating for transgender rights in the District, has more information on its website about the requirements to legally change one’s gender in DC, Maryland and Virginia). (more…)

Categorized as Advocacy, LBGT Rights
Tags: Catania, D.C. Council, discrimination, transgender

New HUD Regulations Aims to Bolster ‘Disparate Impact’

Posted on February 19th, 2013 by ERC

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a new rule regarding the implementation the Fair Housing Act’s ‘discriminatory effects’ standard. This rule establishes a uniform standard for examining whether facially neutral housing practices that have discriminatory effects violate the Fair Housing Act.

“This clear guidance from HUD on when the effects of a housing practice, policy or action violate the Fair Housing Act creates a uniform standard that can be understood and followed by the entire housing industry, including housing providers, managers, real estate brokers, lenders, and insurers,” said Don Kahl, Executive Director of the Equal Rights Center. “We hope that this will lead to fewer barriers, whether intentional or unintentional, to equal housing opportunity for all.” (more…)

Categorized as Advocacy, Civil Rights, Government Services
Tags: Department of Housing and Urban Development, disparate impact; regulations, ERC, fair housing, fair housing act, HUD

Immigration Reform—A Long Overdue Change

Posted on February 6th, 2013 by ERC

Last week, the seemingly intractable problems in our immigration system finally received significant political attention. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators, unofficially titled the “gang of 8”, announced a framework for immigration reform. A day later, President Obama endorsed the Senators’ efforts and unveiled his administration’s similar framework for immigration reform. The broader framework of both plans reveals the same goals: (1) developing a path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented individuals currently living in the U.S. and contributing to the economy and culture; (2) improving the process to enter the country legally for qualified people seeking work; (3) strengthening the employment verification process and cracking down on employers who hire undocumented workers; and (4) tightening border security.

The details of these proposed immigration reforms need to be ironed out, and any final legislation will undoubtedly not fully appease either side of the immigration debate. However, this starting point for discussion, and an apparent commitment from leaders in both political parties, is a positive first step towards providing stability for the 11 million individuals, and millions more family members directly impacted by the issue—and will also bring us a step closer toward equal opportunity for all. (more…)

Categorized as Advocacy, Immigrant Rights
Tags: immigration, President Obama, reform, US Senate

ERC’s Assistance Animal Toolkit Now Available!

Posted on January 30th, 2013 by ERC

The ERC is proud to announce the publication The Assistance Animal Users’ Public Accommodations and Fair Housing Toolkit. This toolkit is just one of the many resources and publications that the ERC uses to educate individuals about their rights under federal, state and local laws.

Thousands of individuals use service and assistive animals in their everyday lives. From guide dogs that help blind individuals navigate their surroundings, to cats that provide emotional support to people suffering from depression, there are numerous types of assistance animals available to people with disabilities. However, federal laws governing the right to be accompanied by these animals in various settings can be confusing.

The Assistance Animal Users’ Public Accommodations and Fair Housing Toolkit is designed to inform individuals who use service and assistance animals of their rights under both the federal Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The toolkit is designed to help define and categorize the different types of assistance animals, and to inform those who use an assistance animal of their rights and what they can do if they experience discrimination.

The toolkit outlines the process for requesting reasonable modifications and reasonable accommodations under federal laws, informs individuals how to report discrimination and provides self-advocacy tips.

To download a PDF copy of the report, click here.

To request a hard copy of the toolkit, send us an email at members@equalrightscenter.org.

môj link

buy viagra

Categorized as Advocacy, Disability Rights, Fair Housing
Tags: ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act, disability rights, ERC, fair housing, public accommodations, service animals, toolkit

Play Ball!

Posted on January 28th, 2013 by ERC

School sports are an integral part of many young peoples’ formative years. Sports, both individual and team, help teach social skills, collaboration, teamwork, encourage good physical health and instill discipline. It is important that all students have the opportunity to participate in valuable school athletic programs.

Last week, the Department of Education took steps to ensure that all students, regardless of any physical or mental disability, have the option to compete in school sports alongside their peers. The Education Department calls on schools to make “reasonable modifications” to allow students with disabilities to play on teams already established. If such reasonable modifications cannot be met, the department will direct schools to create parallel athletic programs.

”We applaud the United States Department of Education for recognizing that all students, including students with disabilities can benefit immeasurably from the opportunity to participate in school athletics. This DOE directive is a powerful step in insuring equal opportunity for all in the disability community.”

This new directive from the Department of Education opens up wonderful opportunities for students with disabilities. The lessons learned from participating in school athletic programs are carried throughout the rest of students’ lives, and every student should have the chance to experience personal growth through good sportsmanship.

Categorized as Advocacy, Civil Rights, Disability Rights
Tags: athletics, department of education, disability rights, public schools, sports

Archive for the ‘Advocacy’ Category

Categories