WHEREAS, April 2021 marks the 53rd anniversary of the Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Federal Fair Housing Act, which provides equal opportunity for all Americans in the sale, rental, and financing of housing and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; and

WHEREAS, the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 added familial status and handicap to those classes protected by Title VIII and added strong new rights, remedies, monetary penalties, and judicial and administrative enforcement procedures; and

WHEREAS, Nevada state law also prohibits discrimination on the basis of ancestry, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression; and

WHEREAS, it is the solemn and sworn duty of government at all levels to protect and defend the rights of all its citizens and oppose housing discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs; and

WHEREAS, illegal barriers to equal opportunity in housing, no matter how subtle, that diminish the rights of some of our citizens, diminish the rights of all; and

WHEREAS, organizations actively work to ensure equal housing opportunities for all people in Nevada to freely choose where they want and can afford to live and the State of Nevada supports these organizations in pursuing fair housing for our families;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, STEVE SISOLAK, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, do hereby proclaim

FAIR HOUSING MONTH IN NEVADA