When Tatiana Dias, a lifelong Bradford West Gwillimbury resident, and her partner, Katie, went to view an apartment last Sunday evening, they were excited at the potential of finding their next home.
They’d already gone to view several in town and everything went well. They figured the viewing of the basement apartment would go like all the others, but they quickly figured out that wouldn’t be the case.
“When I reached out I told her we were a couple looking to book a showing. She said 'Sure, great,'” explained Dias. “I don’t know if I explicitly mentioned my partner was a woman, but I made it very clear it was a couple looking to rent. Whether or not I used female pronouns when referring to her I’m not entirely sure, but I definitely wasn’t trying to keep it hidden.”
When they arrived, Dias messaged the homeowner, Jo Ortiz Farol, on Facebook and she opened the garage to let them in. A strange look from Ortiz Farol initially gave Dias the sense that something was up.
“While we’re walking in I immediately noticed her giving me a look like she was confused as to why there were two women,” said Dias. “She asked us what our relation is and we told her we’re partners and we’re a couple.”
Ortiz Farol didn’t say much after that, according to Dias, and led the couple inside before beginning to take them downstairs to view the basement apartment.
“As we’re walking down the stairs, before we can even see anything, she turns around and looks us both in the eyes and says, ‘you know what, this isn’t going to work. My family and I are very devout Christians and when you told us it was a couple we thought it was a straight couple. It’s not going to work; we can’t have you in the house, I’m going to need you to leave,’” said Dias.
Dias’ partner Katie moved to Bradford from Pittsburgh just before the pandemic hit and comes from a progressive church there.
“So she looks the woman in the eyes and explains she’s also Christian and that God loves everyone,” Dias said. “The lady just continued to say that it won’t work and we need to leave.”
After the interaction, Ortiz Farol followed the couple out of the house as they were leaving.
“She followed us the whole way out and continually said, ‘I’m sorry, but you need to leave,’ while she followed us all the way to the car,” said Dias. “Only once we drove away did she close the garage and go back inside.”
Once the couple got home, Dias sent Ortiz Farol a message on Facebook claiming discrimination. She Tweeted out a screenshot of the message that has now been viewed 2 million times with over 2,000 retweets, and 45,000 likes.
“Hey, thanks for letting us in,” the message reads. “Just so you know it’s illegal not to rent to people for their sexual orientation regardless of your religious views. Best of luck to you, but I have reported your profile and listing to Facebook and I will be reporting you and your listing and full legal name for discrimination to the Ontario Human Rights Commission with myself and my witness.”
Ortiz Farol didn’t reply to Dias and blocked her on Facebook. The listing has since been removed.
“Lots of people are talking to me now about how they’ve had similar experiences,” Dias said. “Having lived in Bradford, it’s definitely grown in the over 20 years I’ve been here. When I was in high school, I’d noticed people weren’t supportive, but it’s really changed. It’s just unfortunate that it hasn’t completely 100 per cent changed and there are still people out there who will fully walk you out of the house.”
When BradfordToday reached out to Ortiz Farol for comment, she denied the accusations and claims she is being misrepresented.
"I have a very high regards and respect for everyone, no matter what’s their background, status, religion, gender, identity and I always endeavour my respect for others because this is how my parents brought me up and also my daughter is gay/lesbian," Ortiz Farol said in a Facebook message to BradfordToday.
Upon learning this, Dias said, "she never told me any of this. That's crazy, but I can't really say I'm surprised." Both she and Katie refute that this is what was said to them.
Ortiz Farol claims that Dias and Katie were asked to leave not because of their sexuality, but because they didn't disclose that they are a gay couple.
"From the beginning when she said they’re a couple, I assumed that they are husband and wife, my mistake for not being clear on that matter," Ortiz Farol said over Facebook. "I said I don’t think this is going to work for both us because we are devoted Christians, but they misinterpreted it. They thought because they are gay/lesbian that’s why, but it’s not what I meant."
Ortiz Farol claims she couldn't be homophobic because a family member is gay. When asked to comment further, she told BradfordToday that she had to "attend to my husband’s medical need," and would no longer be commenting on the situation.
Both Dias and Katie work in Bradford and had been gathering the funds to move out of Dias’ mother's home, but wanted to stay in the area because they like it.
“It’s very difficult because, sure Bradford is a small town, but it’s always been home to me and it’s a place I’ve brought my partner from the states,” Dias said. “I had experiences when I was younger where people were not supportive, but in the past few years it’s improved a lot. Bradford’s a beautiful town and everyone here should be equally loved and respected. So this is disheartening. It’s also kind of scary.”
Dias says there’s a sense of urgency for her and Katie to find a new place, but this experience is sticking with them.
“Before this we had looked at a few places and everyone was nice and it was fine,” she said. “Now we have a few more lined up and it’s scary because are they going to kick me out? Are they going to reject me? Now I’m making sure to tell people we’re both women."
The situation has motivated Dias and Katie to try and bring more awareness to the fact that discrimination continues despite laws against it.
“Ontario has good laws, but I think a lot of people don’t realize that a lot of landlords — especially private ones — will skirt the rules and discriminate,” she said. “Obviously it’s not just with landlords, it happens everywhere; businesses will circumvent the rules to get you out of there if they don’t support your ‘lifestyle.’ We need to bring more attention to it.”
Although the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) provides information and resolves disputes between residential landlords and tenants under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), it does not address circumstances where the parties have not entered into a tenancy agreement; as is the case with Dias and Ortiz Farol.
"Therefore, except in very limited circumstances, the LTB can only consider an application if the landlord and tenant have already entered into a tenancy agreement," said a spokesperson for Tribunals Ontario. "The Ontario Human Rights Code contains provisions addressing the right to equal treatment with respect to residential accommodation for the selection of prospective tenants. Anyone who believes that their rights under the Code have been violated may file an application with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario."
Since going through this and posting on social media about it, Dias has connected with many others who have also been through similar situations.
"We need to raise awareness that Ontario is not perfect and that there’s prejudice here. Homophobia and racism are still here and it’s not going away.”
