ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 20, 1996 TAG: 9601220059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Gay rights activists and civil libertarians on Friday urged state housing commissioners to reject Gov. George Allen's proposal to ban home loans for unmarried and homosexual couples.
The Virginia Housing and Development Authority last month proposed reversing a June 1994 decision to eliminate a requirement that loan recipients who live together be related by blood, marriage or adoption.
The authority's board of commissioners is reconsidering the issue because Allen has appointed six new members to the 10-member panel in the past year and a half.
Opponents said at a public hearing that the proposal would prevent some low- and moderate-income Virginians from owning their own homes simply because of their lifestyles. They also said the state would gain nothing by excluding certain types of people from obtaining the VHDA loans.
``People who own their own homes have a piece of the rock,'' said Susan Scovill, director of investigations for the nonprofit Housing Opportunities Made Equal group in Richmond. ``Let us not confuse lifestyle issues with loan qualification standards.''
Stephen Jones of Richmond said the proposal would ban him from ever qualifying for a loan, because he is gay.
Housing commissioners would be setting themselves up for a civil rights lawsuit if the proposal were adopted, warned Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.
``In the long run, you will lose this battle if you choose to fight it,'' he said.
LENGTH: Short : 40 linesby CNB