Good Home Initiative
An LGBTQ+ Housing Rights Awareness & Systems Change Initiative
Raising the Bar for Housing Safety in Southeast Michigan
The Good Home Initiative
The primary intent of this initiative is to raise the baseline expectations landlords are held to, reducing the threat of sexual violence and exploitation for vulnerable populations — including LGBTQ+ residents, seniors, and youth — by closing the gap between tenants’ rights and their lived reality.
This work happens through three pathways:
Community Voice (arming residents with resources and information)
Neighborly Referrals & Support (building networks that catch people before crisis)
Trauma-Informed Design (physical safety improvements to buildings and neighborhood
You shouldn’t have to hide who you are to have a home. Michigan law agrees.
For too many LGBTQ+ older adults, housing has come with a condition: hide who you are, or lose your roof. Decades of discrimination, in employment, in marriage, in housing, have left LGBTQ+ seniors more likely to face poverty and homelessness than their peers. Michigan made a different choice. In 2023, our state explicitly protected LGBTQ+ people in housing under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. That means you have the right to a home where you are seen, welcomed, and treated with dignity, and the legal backing to enforce it.
You have spent a lifetime showing up as yourself, we think your home should do the same.
If you work in housing, as a landlord, shelter staff, property manager, or service provider, Michigan law requires you to serve LGBTQ+ people with the same dignity you extend to everyone else. The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, employment, and public accommodations. LGBTQ+ older adults, trans individuals, and queer youth are among Michigan’s most housing-unstable populations, not because of who they are, but because of how systems have historically responded to them.
You have the right to call a place home. In Michigan, it’s the law.
Housing discrimination creates the conditions for violence. When LGBTQ+ people are denied housing, evicted without cause, or harassed by landlords and neighbors, they are pushed into unstable situation like couch surfing, shelters, or the street where victimization rates spike dramatically. Housing rights enforcement is violence prevention. That is the campaign’s central claim, and FHCMD’s complaint, testing, and litigation infrastructure makes it actionable. In 2025 alone, FHCMD processed more than 375 housing discrimination complaints.
Resources
Some resources are created by Affirmations, and some are submitted by local partners and reviewed by Affirmations staff. External submissions have self-reported alignment with Affirmations’ mission to offer safe and affirming experiences for people of diverse identities. Learn More
Emergency Housing & Shelters
Find access to emergency housing and shelters when you need it most, offering support and safety during times of crisis.
Housing Advocacy & Support Organizations
Discover long-term solutions to housing insecurity, with resources like advocacy and legal support, designed to empower you and meet your unique needs.