Equal Rights NOW! Takeaways from Homeless Bill of Rights teach-in
Last week we heard from Homeless Congress Leaders and legal experts on how the Homeless Bill of Rights will impact our community. Learn how you can advocate for City Council to pass the bill.
What an enlightening and eventful evening! Despite attempts by bad actors to disrupt the event, Homeless Congress leaders and other advocates stood strong and made their voices heard. If you haven’t signed the petition for the Bill of Rights yet, CLICK HERE. Here are some key takeaways from the presenters:
Many rights that most of us take for granted are routinely denied to people experiencing homelessness. The right to maintain and secure our private property, to be free from unwarranted searches and seizure of that property, the right to use public spaces like sidewalks and parks, the right to vote. These are just a few examples of the many ways in which unhoused people are treated as second class citizens. A Homeless Bill of Rights would make these forms of discrimination illegal. Click here to read a full summary of the bill as it’s currently drafted.
Both people who reside in shelters and who sleep on the street face discrimination, from police and government officials, from homeless service providers, and from the general public.
These acts of discrimination can affect anyone. Similar to disability and LGBTQ+ identity, people who are perceived to be a member of a marginalized group can also be targeted for harassment. The likelihood of being perceived as unhoused is much higher for people with other marginalized identities, particularly mentally ill and disabled people, and Black trans women.
Anti-homeless harassment wastes of public resources. Police time should not be spent criminalizing poverty. Personal items taken or lost by service providers extends the length of homelessness, and requires more resources to rectify.
Similar bills have been passed and implemented in other cities and states, including Illinois, where the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless has successfully advocated for people who experienced discrimination, and brought lawsuits against bad actors.
Not only will individuals be protected by this bill, it will also make it more difficult for the city to pass discriminatory legislation, exponentially increasing the bill’s effectiveness.
The Homeless Bill of Rights will officially recognize housing status as a protected class, adding it to the list of other characteristics such as race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, military veteran status, etc. This will make it illegal to discriminate against anyone based on the perception that they are experiencing homelessness. This will apply to employment, public accommodations, and housing.
To learn more about the Homeless Bill of Rights, click here. To sign the petition to pass the HBOR, click here. To watch the teach-in, click play below. (Please note, because the teach-in was disrupted by bad actors, roughly two minutes of the recording have been edited out.) Please click “subscribe” to get future updates on homelessness and housing advocacy and organizing issues.