Unmarried Couples To Receive Housing

In a radical shift of policy, Harvard Real Estate (HRE) has agreed to lease affiliated housing to gay, lesbian and straight couples on an equal basis with married couples.

A settlement reached this week between HRE, the Boston Fair Housing Commission and graduate student Christopher H. Stewart requires the University to disregard sexual orientation when deciding whether to allow the "domestic partner" of a Harvard affiliate to live in affiliated housing.

A Policy Breakthrough

"Harvard housing policy will extend to an unmarried, non-affiliate same-sex or opposite-sex domestic partner of a Harvard affiliate the same privileges under leases as are given to a non-affiliate spouse of a Harvard affiliate," the agreement reads.

Stewart and Thomas L. Woods filed a complaint against HRE and the University in March, after the housing office refused to allow them to live together in Stewart's Harvard apartment without presenting a marriage certificate.

All affiliated housing at Harvard is controlled by HRE, which manages the University's non-academic property. It is Harvard policy not to discriminate on the basis of sex or sexual orientation.

Woods said yesterday that the agreement represented a breakthrough for unmarried couples of all sexual orientations.

"Requiring a document to get an apartment is absurd--especially if you can't get the document," Woods said. Massachusetts law makes no provision for marriage between two members of the same sex.

But Woods said he is concerned that the decision does not define a domestic partnership clearly enough for unmarried couples--particularly gays and lesbians--to realize it applies to them.

Woods also said that it might be difficult for some couples to provide documentary proof of their relationship. Under the terms of the agreement, unmarried couples must produce evidence that they have been "domestic partners" for at least six months. Accepted forms of proof include joint bills and bank statements.

Harvard's agreement to the new policy helps set a precedent for landlords across the state, said Christopher J. Burke, general counsel and acting executive director of the Fair Housing Commission.

"[Harvard] recognized that committed couples are eligible--as eligible as married couples," Burke said.

"Hopefully it will lead to landlords examining their practices and changing them without having to have a case," he added.

Harvard's prior requirement of maritial status for housing violated state law by discriminating against gays and lesbians, Burke said.

Several HRE officials, including President Kristen S. Demong and attorney Marianna C. Pierce `78 yesterday declined comment on the decision.

Harvard, the city's largest landowner, maintains affiliated housing at several locations in Cambridge, Boston and Somerville. Although the apartments are open to all Harvard affiliates, the housing--which was originally designated for married students--has not in the past been used to house their domestic partners.