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 From the Stonewall Riots of 1969 to the legalization of Gay marriage in 2015, the nation’s LGBTQ+ community has fought innumerable battles for equality and justice under the law. During her 25 years as a Realtor®, entrepreneur Kath Hammerseng has seen much progress but acknowledges there is still much work to be done. As we observe 53 years since the passage of the FAIR Housing Act, we talked with the former MAR President and MNR’s 2020 Ed Anderson Award winner about the decades of LGBTQ+ achievements despite the lingering shadow of discrimination. 

As a gay woman, Hammerseng’s empathy for all protected classes is rooted in her day-to-day experiences. Our culture has come far—but not that far, she observes. The openness most heterosexual people feel when talking about their families or personal lives with friends and colleagues can be fraught with tension for members of the LGBTQ+ community. 

“There are times when I’m not completely upfront. For example, in business with clients, I’ll mention Mo as my spouse instead of my wife,” she said, referring to Mo, who she married in a Commitment Ceremony in 1993, a decade before Gay marriage was legally recognized. Hammerseng’s larger point is that discrimination persists. LGBTQ+ people have to be more cautious about who they trust, especially when it comes to major life decisions like purchasing a home. 

Many LGBTQ+ home buyers are uncertain about how neighbors in their new communities will receive them. They’re even more concerned about how neighbors might react if they start a family.  

“When I work with gay clients, they ask, ‘where am I going to feel welcome?’ However, as a Realtor®, the Minnesota Human Rights Act and the NAR Code oef Ethics prevent me from steering people to certain geographic areas based on their protected class status. And so, it puts me in a bit of a spot,” Hammerseng explained. “So, I always tell people to spend some time in the neighborhood. Talk to people at the park Take a walk. Talk to the neighbors. See if you connect. People like to be around people who have similar interests.” 

Despite continuing challenges for LGBTQ+ people, Hammerseng says the state is much more accepting than it was back in the 1980s when she first came out. In those days, gay people were marginalized into fringe communities, primarily in urban areas. Communities beyond the city were much less accessible and accepting. 

“When Mo and I moved from North Minneapolis to New Hope, we had to be completely closeted. When I volunteered at the fire department, I hard some of the fire fighters talking about how they got rid of that ‘queer guy’ who had joined. So, for two years, I didn’t tell them who I was” Hammerseng said. 

It was in the world of real estate that Hammerseng began to feel comfortable and open about her identity. She credits the industry as a whole as leading the way with progressive, inclusive and non-discriminatory policies. 

“I remember getting my real estate photo taken. I could just wear my turtleneck sweater and my leather jacket. I didn’t have to go out and shop at Dayton’s Oval Room to find some outfit I felt uncomfortable in. For the first time, I could look the way I wanted to looki,” Hammerseng recalled. 

Roadblocks remain, she concedes. Discriminatory practices persist in rentals and in some homeowner’s associations, particularly those in senior communities, she notes. And homelessness among gay youth is a growing problem. The Star Tribune reports that a quarter of all homeless youth in the state are LGBTQ+, even though they only comprise 4 percent of the state’s population. Many of these young people ended up on the streets after being rejected by their families, Hammerseng said. 

“These are enormous problems that will require a lot of resources to address,” she says. “And a continuing shift in perceptions. Our biggest challenge is changing our culture.” 

Still, as Martin Luther King observed, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” And so too does the path of the real estate industry. Hammerseng says she is proud of the progressive policies promoted by NAR, MNR and all the state’s local associations and numerous brokerages. 

“Most associations also have diversity, equity, and inclusion committees. We’re doing quite a lot and I’m super proud of the work done to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. It’s a great position and message to take,” Hammerseng said. “Here I am, this person who used to hide and not tell people who I am. And now, I’m advising U.S. Representative Dean Phillips on behalf of NAR. I get to bring that influence to Washington and see our democracy work, and see how those changes can happen. It’s one of the most thrilling things I don in my career.”