Maine Panel: Trans Renter Discriminated Against

A transgender woman who says discrimination kept her from renting an apartment won support from a human rights panel Monday.

JackieRay Mays attempted to rent an apartment in Augusta, Maine, from Tisdale Management Company in 2009, but says she was discriminated against because she's transgender, according to the Kennebec Journal. Not only was she told on June 26, 2009, that the agent showing the apartment didn't have any applications, her request that one be mailed to her was not filled immediately. Upon receiving it on July 7, she filled it out and submitted it the following day, only to be told 10 days later that it had not arrived.

The apartment in question was meanwhile given to a couple who viewed it June 30 and submitted an application on the same day.

After hearing Mays's story, Maine Human Rights Commission investigator Angela Tizon concluded that the delays caused Mays to lose a fair opportunity to apply for the apartment and left her subject "to less favorable terms and conditions of the rental application status."

On Monday the panel agreed with Tizon's recommendation.

The rental company's owner, Robert Tisdale III, said Monday that he lost the case primarily for not responding to a notice from the commission. "I didn't realize it was that important," he said. "I didn't even know she was transgender until she called me up and told me."

The Maine Human Rights Act has outlawed discrimination in housing based on sexual orientation since December 2005.

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