LGBT couple threatened with eviction for flying rainbow flag: 'This is who we are'

A couple in Wisconsin is reportedly battling a landlord who they say is anti-LGBT — and threatening their eviction as a result. In a report from NBC2 Wisconsin, Kevin Kollman and Merle Malterer said they received a note from their landlord demanding they remove a rainbow flag they’d recently put up within five days, or face eviction. The two say they have lived in the apartment for six years.

“It’s a symbol of America,” Kollmann told NBC2. “It’s a symbol of our pride in America being a gay couple here in Oak Creek.” The landlord reportedly told NBC2 that the issue isn’t their display of love, but flags in general. But the two assert that other neighbors are regularly flying flags. “I’ve never been told to take them down,” a neighbor of Kollman and Malterer, who has a flag, told NBC2.

For the time being, the couple plan to take down the flag — in order to avoid being kicked out. But they tell local reporters that pursuing a lawsuit is not out of the question. If they do choose to go that route, and can prove that discrimination was the source of the landlord’s request, they may have a case. According to the Advocate, Wisconsin bans LGBT discrimination when it comes to housing.

“Wisconsin prohibits housing discrimination based on sexual orientation only,” says the Human Rights Campaign. Yahoo Lifestyle was unable to reach Kollman, Malterer, or their landlord.

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