We all need to care about the LGBTQ+ community

2024 was a fascinating year for me for a lot of reasons. I obtained my real estate broker’s license, and I left the warm cocoon of my former brokerage, where I had first joined the industry in 2017 as the first openly transgender real estate professional in Texas, and started my own brokerage, Jewel Real Estate.

Because it seems like every day there is another attack on the transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary (together known as TGX) community and our rights, I have received many emails, texts and calls to make sure I am OK. Please know I am.

As I go about my day, I don’t personally experience hate from average folks out in the community. Sure, some people may glare at me as I stand over 6 feet in heels, but no one calls me out, yells at me, or has attempted to remove me from a bathroom.

But this is not just about me. I fear that too many real estate professionals think only the TGX community is under attack. Although it is true that I, and the 0.6 percent of TGX Americans who are simply trying to live our lives, have become cultural and political lightning rods, the attacks on us are also impacting all in the LGBTQ+ community. We are all concerned about what is occurring today.

Impact on LGBTQ+ real estate professionals

As you can imagine, these are stressful times for members of the Alliance, including the nearly 25 percent who are allies. 

Obviously, we have TGX members who need our support. We also have TGX friends and clients, including those families with a TGX child, trying to figure out if they must essentially become political refugees and flee for more welcoming states and communities. The same holds true for many nervous LGBTQ+ people outside of the TGX community.

We are also talking to our younger members who, for the first time in their lives, are facing uncertainty and wondering if the progress we made can or will be reversed. Many have only known marriage equality, the ability to have children and an opportunity to succeed at school and work, like anyone else. These young people are scared. 

We are deeply concerned that, despite our hopes of living in a welcoming society, there are those who will try to take away our larger LGBTQ+ wins, while they demonize the TGX community. We can’t let that happen, and we hope the people who shared their positive views of the LGBTQ+ community with GLADD  earlier last year in its “Accelerating Acceptance 2024” report will stand up and speak out.

This is what the report showed:

• A 91 percent supermajority of non-LGBTQ Americans agree that LGBTQ+ people should have the freedom to live their lives and not be discriminated against.
• An 84 percent supermajority of non-LGBTQ Americans support equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community.
• 76 percent of non-LGBTQ+ adults are comfortable having a transgender and/or nonbinary person at their place of worship.
• 75 percent of non-LGBTQ+ adults are comfortable learning a family member is gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

Why this matters to you

You may be wondering what any of this has to do with you, the real estate professional. Allow me to say that it has everything to do with you. 

First, the Alliance estimates conservatively that 150,000 Realtors have an LGBTQ+ child. We all want our society to welcome your child and allow them a pathway to joy and prosperity, including homeownership. It won’t happen if we stand on the sidelines.

Next are the hundreds of thousands of real estate professionals who love and support a relative, friend and/or colleague who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community. We need you — our allies — to understand our concerns and stand by us.

The final group is the largest. It’s everyone who makes a living working in and around this real estate industry. Each of us is responsible for supporting every person’s right to a real estate buying and selling experience, free from discrimination. This includes the LGBTQ+ community.

LGBTQ+ homebuying: On the rise

We are becoming a more visible and vital part of the real estate market. According to Zillow’s 2024 Buyer Housing Trends Report, 11 percent of homebuyers in 2024 identified as LGBTQ+, a jump from 7 percent in 2019. This is a big number. To put it in perspective, it is the same as the number of single males who recently purchased a home, according to NAR.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports 1.2 million same-sex couples live in the U.S. and same-sex marriages have increased by 70 percent since the 2015 legalization of same-sex marriage. At the same time, UCLA’s Williams Institute noted that 18 percent of LGBTQ+ people and 18 percent of married same-sex couples have children. These are our clients, our members and our friends.

Amid progress, challenges still remain

Despite this progress, discrimination remains a harsh reality for many. Nearly 30 percent of LGBTQ+ individuals have faced harassment or discrimination in housing settings in the past year, according to the Center for American Progress. 

Additionally, the Alliance’s 2024-member survey found that 27.1 percent of respondents believe discrimination against LGBTQ+ potential homebuyers has increased over the past three years. This increased from 21 percent a year ago and 17.9 percent in 2022.

For older LGBTQ+ adults, the challenges can be even more severe. AARP found that 45 percent of LGBTQ+ adults 45 and over fear age-based discrimination at work. This is an obvious impediment to financial security and the potential for homeownership. 

And, as an important reminder, according to an LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance survey, our members believe that real estate professionals remain a leading culprit of where discrimination is visible to LGBTQ+ clients during the buying and selling process.

Leading the charge

While I’ve shared some stats and numbers about the LGBTQ+ community, I’m really talking about people building their futures, dreaming of their first home, and families looking for a place to grow. LGBTQ+ people are human beings, plain and simple. Like all Americans, I and all LGBTQ+ people deserve the right to thrive, not just exist.

The LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance will continue to lead the charge, but we can’t do it alone. It takes all of us to keep building an industry that’s truly inclusive. By advocating for fair housing, educating ourselves and treating every former, current or future client with respect, we can help more people achieve the American dream of homeownership.

Jamie Zapata is a Real Estate Broker and LGBTQ+ advocate based in San Antonio, Texas, where she specializes in serving the needs of a diverse client base.