OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Attorney General Gentner Drummond is urging the removal of Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) appointees for discriminatory conduct.

In letters sent to Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and Chair of OHFA’s Board of Trustees Michael Buhl, Drummond demands the agency to stop discriminating against white and heterosexual homeowners, while urging Stitt to remove the appointees responsible for the conduct.

“As Attorney General, I will not tolerate Oklahomans being subjected to discrimination of any kind, especially by officials entrusted with stewarding taxpayer dollars,” Drummond wrote in the letter to Stitt. “I urge you to immediately remove the offending appointees at OHFA and replace them with qualified Oklahomans who will treat all applicants equally according to the law.”

Drummond’s office said the discriminatory conduct of the agency is at the core of a federal lawsuit. In Elaine Wilkinson et. al. v Oklahoma Finance Agency et. al., it is alleged that OHFA appointees engaged in unlawful discrimination against white, Asian, and Pacific Islander homeowners solely based on race and against heterosexual homeowners solely based on sexual orientation.

Such conduct violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Drummond’s office said.

Drummond’s office said OHFA’s posted criteria says “African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, [and] LGBTQ+” homeowners may qualify for benefits if their income is at or below 150 percent of the area median income, while white and heterosexual applicants are restricted to an income threshold of 100 percent of the area median income.

In the letter to Buhl, Drummond demanded that the agency immediately stop its unlawful practices and update its website to clarify that it is no longer considering race or sexual orientation when awarding funds.

You can read the full letter by clicking here.