Gary Faulkinbury, Phoenix Landlord, Refuses To Rent To Gay Army Veteran Couple Because Of Donald Trump

Two female U.S. Army veterans who are married to one another say that Phoenix landlord Gary Faulkinbury refused to rent to them, telling them to come back once Trump is out of office, Yahoo! News is reporting. Faulkinbury has since apologized.

Alyssa Gillaspy and her wife, Kara Gillaspy, both served in the U.S. Army. Alyssa was disabled while serving in Iraq. Now home with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), she relies on Social Security benefits to get by. Kara, meanwhile, is on the lookout for a job.

The two women recently decided to make the move from Olympia, Washington, to Phoenix — so that they can be closer to Kara’s family. However, one Phoenix landlord, identified as Gary Faulkinbury, was apparently not interested in renting to them. He invoked Donald Trump as his reason why.

Specifically, says Alyssa, when Faulkinbury looked over their application and saw that the two women rely — at least partially — on Social Security benefits for their income, he was no longer interested in having them as tenants.

“[T]rump is threatening to postpone payments for a few months so he can pay for the wall… [T]ry back after he is no longer in office.”

While the Trump administration has discussed, in the abstract, some cuts to some entitlement programs, there has been no specific mention of cutting social security in order to potentially fund the planned border wall.

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In a Facebook post, Alyssa shared a screenshot of what she claims is a message that Faulkinbury sent to her after she complained that he was discriminating against them. The expletive laden message invokes Trump several times.

“You stupid f**k. File a complaint if you think you have been discriminated against. F**king Trump is causing this. You are just a f**king dumb s**t.”

When contacted by KSAZ-TV about the incident, Faulkinbury continued to maintain — at first, anyway — that he was in the right.

“If I can’t get through to them, what difference does it make? I’m trying to get through to them about what’s happening.”

However, according to Yahoo! News, Faulkinbury later apologized, saying that he was confused about Trump’s plans with regard to entitlements. He went on to say that this was “just another lie” from Trump. He offered the women the chance to re-apply.

They won’t be re-applying with Faulkinbury, however — and in fact, they may sue him. The couple say that they are exploring all legal options. Meanwhile, they say that several Phoenix-area landlords and real estate brokers have reached out to them.