Following Inman’s extensive reporting on Montana-based pastor and realtor Brandon Huber, who reportedly called the LGBTQ community “an abomination” and broke ties with a food assistance program that promoted Pride month, Windermere Real Estate is now distancing itself from the realtor.
“What we would like to make clear is that Windermere believes it is important that the public, and all those who choose to affiliate with our name, understand our values as a company,” Windermere CEO Geoff Wood said in an emailed statement to Inman. “This includes being an inclusive organization that has zero-tolerance for discrimination in any form.
“It is important to note that Mr. Huber is not an agent or employee of Windermere Services Company,” Wood said. “He is affiliated with a separate franchisee entity, and Windermere Services, as a franchisor, has no authority to control his relationship with that franchisee.”
Back in June, Huber pulled his church’s support of the Missoula Food Bank due to the organization’s support of the local LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Huber claimed such support went against his beliefs as a Christian. A local resident then filed a discrimination claim with the Missoula Organization of Realtors, claiming the pastor/realtor called the LGBTQ community an “abomination.” Huber then filed his own lawsuit against the Missoula Organization of Realtors, claiming that the National Association of Realtors’ Code of Ethics on hate speech was too vague to be enforced.
Ryan Weyandt, CEO of The LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance, has since penned an op-ed, arguing that it’s time for Huber to step aside from his role in real estate.
“While you have the right to be a misogynist, racist and/or anti-LGBTQ+, you don’t have a right to simultaneously be a Realtor,” Weyandt wrote. “The LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance does not see this as a religious discussion. It’s also not a hate speech discussion. But it is—most definitely—a discrimination issue and likely one of harassment.
“His life intertwines with his real estate business,” Weyandt continued. “And therefore, as a member of NAR, he clearly violated the code of ethics.”
Weyandt ends the letter by urging the leadership of NAR and the larger realtor community to engage with the Missoula Organization of Realtors to make the ethics hearing a priority and hold Huber accountable.