On Tuesday (April 28), the Pennsylvania House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill officially banning whites-only housing in the state.
The bill, House Bill 2103, passed the House floor by a narrow 101-100 vote, according to PennLive.
The bill closes a prior loophole in state law that allowed religious and fraternal organizations to give preference to their own members, thereby violating the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
It blocks such groups from restricting membership based on race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and from denying equal access to housing, employment, and public accommodations.
According to The New York Times, the bill was written in response to white nationalist, extremist groups that have carved out large sections of land to establish whites-only communities across the nation.
One group, Return to the Land, founded a nearly 160-acre community in Ravenden, Arkansas, strictly for white, heterosexual individuals, which said it was emboldened by the Trump administration’s nationwide rollbacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and immigration policies.
By legally presenting itself as a “private association” offering housing to its members, the group exploited an exception outlined in the Fair Housing Act that allowed for “housing operated by organizations and private clubs that limit occupancy to members.”
“Seeing someone who doesn’t present as white might lead us to, among other things, not admit that person,” Eric Orwoll, one of the community’s founders, told The Times. “I would rather the precedent is set and the discussion is had while there’s a relatively favorable cultural and legal climate for it.”
When Return to the Land reportedly expressed interest in expanding its housing developments into Pennsylvania, Rep. Ben Waxman drafted House Bill 2103 to prevent them and other groups from exploiting the loophole by disguising themselves as private clubs or member-only organizations.
“They found a loophole using the private club rules in Arkansas,” Waxman told PennLive. “The original bill says ‘absolutely no,’ there is no room for that here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
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