Who says real estate isn’t political? In this most-important election year, the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance is calling on all Realtor Political Action Committees (RPACs) to refrain from endorsing and funding elected officials and candidates who openly engage in discriminatory behavior against diverse groups including the LGBTQ+ community. In doing so, the group has launched a new webpage that tracks which RPACs are currently supporting those who openly discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community.
“The Alliance has a responsibility to advocate on behalf of our LGBTQ+ members, along with current and potential LGBTQ+ homebuyers and sellers,” said LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance CEO Ryan Weyandt. “There are already more than 320 bills sponsored in 2024 by RPAC-funded legislators. This needs to change.”
The Alliance notes that RPAC-funded legislators have introduced 323 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in 2024 alone. According to data from the American Civil Liberties Union, Bill Track 50 and several other public data sources, the RPAC has given more than $3.3 million to anti-LGBTQ legislators since 2018.
The Alliance has proposed an “Article 10 Rule” that calls for RPACs to refrain from funding discriminatory officials even if they support legislation favorable to the real estate industry. The group has also asked RPACs to take the easy first step of making modifications to the questions asked of all candidates up for endorsement, which can be found here.
According to the website, the Alliance’s rationale is simple: If realtors must abide by the code of ethics, clearly those the industry supports should be held to equal standards.
The Alliance said the webpage’s data will be updated regularly to account for new anti-LGBTQ bill proposals.