In honor of Fair Housing Month, celebrated each April, HUD has declared 2010 a "Time to Act!"The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate in housing transactions based on race, color, national origin, religion, gender, disability, or familial status. Each year HUD and communities and organizations across the country recognize Fair Housing Month by hosting an array of activities that enhance the public's awareness of their fair housing rights and highlight the national commitment to end housing discrimination. The theme for this year's activities, "Fair Housing in 2010: Time to Act," reflects the urgent need to ensure fair housing.
"Discrimination based on how you look, the religion you practice, or because you have children or are disabled is illegal and unacceptable," said John Trasviña, Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD. "In the aftermath of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in April 1968, President Johnson moved for passage of the Fair Housing Act to bring the nation forward and together. Since then, we have made progress but there remains work to be done. It is time to act."
HUD's fair housing initiatives include expanding its efforts to work with states and local communities to reinforce a federal requirement that they promote diverse, inclusive housing opportunities when spending federal funds. The Department, for the first time ever, is examining the prevalence of housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and discrimination based on a tenant's use of government assistance to pay rent.
