To support LGBTQIA Pride Month, Ashby & Graff Real Estate is raising awareness around diversity and inclusion with the release of its “Holding Hands, Holding Dreams” video that highlights the familiar feelings of thrill that come with first holding hands and first seeing the perfect home for sale.
The video promotes Ashby & Graff’s belief that its strength comes from a diversity of people, thoughts and ideas. Emphasizing and connecting the joy of holding hands with the joy of finding that perfect home delivers a message that relates to all people.
However, despite the similar emotions experienced during hand holding, the effects of doing so publicly as an LGBTQIA person are anything but similar to members of the majority. Hand holding by LGBTQIA people can cause ridicule and in over 1/2 the states in the country, denial of housing or jobs because of failure to include LGBTQIA people in anti-discrimination statutes. A recent study found same-sex couples are denied mortgages 73 percent more frequently than opposite-sex couples of similar financial worthiness. A separate study by Freddie Mac and the National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals found 46 percent of LGBT renters fear discrimination in the home buying process.
John Graff, CEO of Ashby & Graff Real Estate, stated, “In 2020 – 51 years after the uprising at Stonewall – the LGBTQIA community has taken incredible strides toward true equality but there is still progress to be made. We celebrate the gains but recommit to fighting for a better and more equal future on behalf of our employees, clients and their families.”
Graff continued, “At Ashby & Graff, we embrace and value our differences because it is diversity of thought that strengthens us. Diversity and inclusion aren’t just a corporate policy, they are the fibers that weave the durable fabric of our organization. We are proud to celebrate diversity and the contributions of the LGBTQIA community during Pride Month and throughout the entire year.”
