Last week, the Virginia Association of Realtors found a Christian member guilty of "hate speech" for posting Bible verses opposing homosexuality and same-sex "marriage" on Facebook, a decision that could cost the man thousands of dollars or even his career.
According to CBN News, the group "ruled on December 11 that Wilson Fauber of Staunton violated the ethics code that prohibits realtors from 'certain religious expressions.' Fauber maintains he did nothing wrong and is expected to appeal."
Fauber's so-called hate speech consisted primarily of two Facebook posts that occurred years before the National Association of Realtors (NAR) even remotely prohibited such commentary from its members.
"In 2015, I posted Biblical quotes on my personal Facebook page," Fauber told the Federalist. "Around the same time, Rev. Franklin Graham had created a post and I re-posted with some additions for emphasis."
The posts concerned the biblical definition of marriage -- still the law of the land at the time the posts were made -- and the Bible's assertion that homosexual acts are sinful.
Eight years later, Fauber decided to run for city council. The opposition began digging for dirt on the pastor and 44-year veteran realtor they called "the Hater."
The New American reported last month:
"There were those who don't like freedom of speech and freedom of religion and so they researched my Facebook accounts and found the post from 2015 and then a local reporter met with me to ask me if I still believed in the scripture I had posted," said Fauber.
Fauber's affirmative answer led the opposition [according to CBN, "two Staunton realtors, including an openly gay man"] to file an ethics complaint with the NAR in February. The NAR had amended its code of ethics in 2020. It now requires realtors to avoid "harassing speech, hate speech, epithets, or slurs based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity." Fauber's allegedly hateful posts had occurred before the amendment was adopted. However, his 2023 reiteration of them, as printed in the newspaper, served as cause for the complaint. In addition, the complaint "cited a more recent post where Fauber had criticized how female athletes were being physically injured by male athletes claiming to be girls," according to the Richmond-based Founding Freedoms Law Center (FFLC), which is defending Fauber in his upcoming hearing before an NAR tribunal.
In a September press release, FFLC's Victoria Cobb observed:
Apparently quoting the truth of the Bible is now enough to trigger a formal ethics hearing that could ruin a real estate agent's career. In reality, "hate speech" is nothing more than an Orwellian device used to silence others. Ironically, rules and regulations like these are put in place to hate and harm individuals with disfavored viewpoints.
Fauber believes he was targeted for his views by an increasingly "woke" NAR. CBN wrote:
When asked why he believes this is all coming out now in 2024, Fauber said, "Because the National Association of Realtors is woke. The leadership of the National Association of Realtors has made it very clear about their involvement in endorsing and approving of the LGBTQ community, and just recently, just a few weeks ago actually, in Charlottesville, Virginia, the National Association of Realtors provided funding for a Drag Queen Show."
The Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors did host a Drag Show in November in the name of a "Fair Housing Symposium," which was reportedly funded in part by the National Association of Realtors' "fair housing grant."
Fair housing? Perhaps. Fair hearing? Good luck.
Of course, we may never know exactly what transpired in the hearing since the NAR's membership contract prohibits the disclosure of anything said during an ethics hearing.
What we do know is that the tribunal found Fauber guilty of violating the ethics code. Should Fauber's appeal fail, he could be fined up to $15,000 and stripped of his realtor status. He would not be prohibited from acting as a real-estate agent, but he would be barred from accessing the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which realtors use to list and locate properties.
"It's pretty much impossible to do the real estate business without the MLS," Fauber told the Federalist.
Fauber's attorney, FFLC's Michael Sylvester, told CBN he sees a double standard in the NAR's actions. On the one hand, the NAR can spend Fauber's dues on drag shows, but, on the other, Fauber isn't allowed to express his own opinions on such matters on his personal Facebook page. "That's the position that's being suggested, correct," he said.
Fauber told CBN his case serves as a warning for other Christian professionals:
Christians don't have rights, and this is just totally wrong. And the National Association of Realtors being the largest trade organization in America, they have set a precedent by adopting this policy. If I'm guilty because I post my religious beliefs in a meme or a scripture on my Facebook or social media accounts, and if that's guilty of "hate speech" ... there are millions and millions of Christians that agree with my position, and we don't have a voice.
Fortunately, there are still organizations like FFLC to plead Fauber's case. As Sylvester put it, "If this can happen to Wilson it can happen to anyone. If we don't stand up alongside, we may not have anyone stand with us when it happens to us."