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Realtors Pull Support of GOP Congressman Who Spoke in Favor of LGBT Housing Discrimination

“A homeowner should not be required to be in business with someone they think is doing something that is immoral,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.

Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California has lost the support of a national realtors group over comments he made in support of discrimination against the LGBT community.

“Every homeowner should be able to make a decision not to sell their home to someone (if) they don’t agree with their lifestyle,” Rohrabacher told an Orange County Association of Realtors delegation last week, The Orange County Register reports.

“We’ve drawn a line on racism, but I don’t think we should extend that line,” Rohrabacher said. “A homeowner should not be required to be in business with someone they think is doing something that is immoral.”

While there are no federal laws against discriminating in housing based on someone's actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, both are illegal under California state law.

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gay couple drinking coffee in the living room

The remarks have cost Rohrabacher the endorsement of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), a trade group claiming some 1.3 million members, whom it had been encouraging to send campaign contributions to the candidate. He is facing off against 15 challengers in the upcoming primary, his most fiercely contested race to date.

Discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation is against the NAR's code of ethics.

“The association’s member Code of Ethics is far ahead of Congress on gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination. We certainly hope that Congress will...support the elimination of housing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” the NAR said in a statement on Thursday, as it announced it was dropping its endorsement of Rohrabacher.

"It certainly can’t do me any good to have people take me off their endorsement list," the congressman admitted. "It’s sad to see (the association’s) priority is standing in solidarity with making sure a stamp of approval is put on somebody’s private lifestyle."

The real estate industry has been Rohrabacher's most reliable source of donations, according to Open Secretswhich puts the total funds received from the industry in the last year alone at over $160,000.

He has voted against LGBT rights on numerous occasions, including voting for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman, in favor of allowing companies to discriminate in employment based on sexual orientation, and against same-sex adoptions.

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