The woman, who had recently moved to Christchurch from Auckland, posted in a community Facebook group, and said she had a spare room available to rent in the three-bedroom home she was living in with her son.
Within the post, she said applicants “must be straight gender as we are Christians and have our beliefs.”
This attracted a lot of criticism. The post has since been deleted.
Speaking to The Star, the woman said while she was “sincerely sorry” for the upset she had caused, she stood by her views.
“I just did not want two people of the same gender making out in front of my son.
“It is okay for them to be like that, but it is just not who we are, I just don’t want it in our home,” she said. The woman who is a tenant at the property was looking for a sub-tenant to rent a bedroom from her, technically making her a sub-landlord.
Tenancy.co.nz managing director and lawyer Scotney Williams said her relationship as a sub-landlord to the prospective flatmate falls outside the restrictions of the Residential Tenancies Act.
This means she is not bound by the same rules around discrimination landlords are when looking to sign individuals on to rental agreements.
Rainbow Youth executive director Frances Arn thought the behaviour was disappointing but also an example of the reality queer New Zealanders live in.
“It is really sad and awful to hear this story and not surprising to us.
“These are the stories we hear our young people experience on a daily basis with things like housing and even employment,” she said.
