The LGBTQ+ Alliance chief talks fear and hope for 2026
Courtesy of Inman News
Ten years ago, the LGBTQ+ community notched a crucial victory: nationwide marriage equality.
The moment capped a decade of momentous change in the United States, which started with the election of the nation’s first Black president, Barack Obama. His famous campaign slogan, “Yes We Can,” became the mantra for many marginalized groups within the country, who believed that centuries of dreams and sacrifices were finally coming to fruition.
However, today, 2015 feels almost like a fever dream, as the LGBTQ+ community faces the possibility of losing nationwide marriage equality, among other protections on the federal and state level. Those with the financial means have already left their communities for friendlier landscapes, both domestically and abroad, out of fear that the lives they’ve built will no longer be tenable.
In a recent conversation with Inman, LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance Interim CEO Mary Mancera said her organization has been on the front lines, using its network and expertise to help the queer community navigate housing options and maintain safety — without losing hope for a bright, prismatic future.
“I would say, what’s most obvious for the LGBTQ+ community is that we expected it not to be easy,” she said. “But, I don’t think we expected the onslaught of what it has turned out to be, certainly in the first half of the year, with the targeted attacks, anti-LGBTQ legislation and rhetoric.”
“We had to have a lot of conversations with our members because there was such high concern about where this was all going and what it meant,” she added. “So that’s just sort of the canvas, if you will, of what it felt like in the first part of the year.”
Mancera said the fear has waned, as the LGBTQ+ community focuses on “small wins” that prove there are legislators and voters who still care about maintaining equality for all. “I think that gives people hope,” she said.
Inman: Thank you for taking the time to chat with me. What moment or trend has defined 2025 for you?
Mancera: Our members were in such a state of fear well into the beginning of the second quarter, not knowing honestly how to respond to all of the things that were dominating the news cycle, things that were being said in Washington, and how that was going to affect policy targeting the community. We, as an organization, had to really level-set expectations: We are not civil rights; we are about housing and fair housing for all, and a discrimination-free homeownership experience.
But from an event standpoint, if I were to single out one thing, it would be [the National Association of Realtors’] decision to revisit and then change Article 10 in the Code of Ethics and walk back some of their definition of harassment. And our posture on that is really pretty simple and straightforward: You can’t be one person in one part of your life and not in others. You can’t be a bigot after hours and then work and serve your clients fairly.
We had lots of dialogue around that with members, and we actually co-hosted a town hall forum with NAR after the new definition was approved by the NAR board of directors. That [town hall] was really trying to map out for our members how the revised rule would be enforced, and we took questions, some of which were pretty tough. I don’t think anybody let up on NAR because we probably are among the most discriminated minority segments that make up the membership of the Association.
I think at last count, 79 percent of LGBTQ+ people have experienced some sort of discrimination based on their identity. So it’s a very real concern.
Earlier this year, the Alliance published a transgender and gender expansive (i.e., people who do not identify with traditional gender roles and are not otherwise confined to one gender narrative or experience) moving guide for those who felt they weren’t safe in their state or even in this country.
That’s a good question. I keep hearing this phrase these days, that the real currency today is attention, right? It’s the attention economy, so to speak. It dips and swerves based on what the administration is doing. I think the thing about fear is how much we allow it to rule us on a day-to-day basis, and how we respond.
And when you look at it, they don’t follow through on everything that they’ve threatened to do. Now, there were some significant actions taken that have absolutely affected us. On the housing side, the administration has diluted the laws and the rules that have been in effect for decades, and the erosion of those protections is very real, very tangible. Those are things that are going to impact us through the course of this administration.
But there have been a few wins here and there that make it feel like this is short-term, not long-term, and I think that gives people hope.
And in the business, I would say what is front and center is how this housing economy is going to fare next year. Will it remain the same? Because our members, just like NAR’s members, need to be able to do business.
When you talked about short-term and long-term, it reminded me of the cycle of real estate, but also the cycle of history. I love historical content and finding parallels. I think it helps put many current events into perspective. What do you think we can learn from the past and apply today, either in business or advocacy?
Boom and bust have been a regular phenomenon, and in every bust, there have been people who have prospered. And if there is any place to take hope, it is that with any cycle comes opportunity and new possibilities.
We are a land of innovators, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the real estate industry, with all the technology that is coming into play and the different disruptive models that are being presented. I mean, look at Facebook. It wasn’t a thing 20 years ago, and it has revolutionized how people connect.
So, like anything, Marian, you know, is the glass half full or is it half empty? In any market cycle, there are people who prosper and innovators who find a new way of doing things and inspire other ideas by virtue of that. And so does the housing industry need to be reinvented? Yes. There’s the lack of affordability, and the lack of inventory and the types of housing that young people like yourselves and beyond are going to want.
Our time is running short, so let’s look forward to 2026. When you think about this upcoming year, what is your best-case scenario?
I’m taking a cue from some of our sister LGBTQ+ organizations, who have focused solely on the power of purpose and focus. You know, I’ll paraphrase my favorite Maya Angelou quote: It’s very hard to hate someone if you look them in the eye and recognize them as a human being.
At the end of ’26, I would love to see that the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance has persevered and met the challenges that I fully expect the administration will continue to lob at us. We are engaged with our other LGBTQ+ partners and banging the drum for fair housing and for a discrimination-free housing experience for members of our community. And these things, they don’t happen overnight. So, we have to remain positive, and we have to look beyond the bumps.
That’s how we persevere.