Two flatmates in Wellington are being criticized after posting a room-for-rent advertisement that specifies "no heterosexuals."
According to Domain, an advertisement on Trade Me read, "We don't want to live with a couple, a heterosexual person, or someone who is loud at night, or drinks/does drugs/party[s] a lot." That ad went live last Thursday and was removed last Sunday following backlash from the Human Rights Commission.
At the moment, the people who published the advertisement has not replied to any communication attempts. The listing featured a house in the suburb of Newtown, which has four bedrooms. Besides the controversial specification, the flat mates described the house as a "queer, transgender, vegetarian household." Furthermore, the two added "feminist/politically switched on adults" and they indicated that they did not want to live with anybody who could be racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, fat-phobic, hates sex workers, hates migrants or is anybody who might be a jerk.
The ad also read, "We want to live with someone who is relaxed, motivated, grown up, reliable, considerate, child friendly, LGBTQIA+ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex or asexual], pays the board on time with no stress, [is] vegetarian or vegan."
The ad was debated by many activists through the Reddit forums. On the other hand, one spokeswoman for the Human Rights Commission has weighed in on this matter saying that it was legal under the Human Rights Act to refuse potential flatmates based on their sexual orientation. She added that the general prohibition against discrimination does not apply to someone who will be sharing living spaces with a potential flat mate. She however emphasized that prejudices expressed in a public advertisement is not acceptable.
Trade Me spokesman Logan Mudge said that even if the site has no strict rules on ads like that the site encourages people to use words that are not offensive while looking for the flatmate that they want.
