On Oct. 11, the annual national gay and lesbian coming out day, the nation's first Gay & Lesbian Bank will open on the Internet, a testament to both the technological advantages of the Web and the shortsightedness of the traditional banking community.

Of key interest to real estate agents trying to get homosexual couples into homes is that among services offered by G&L will be mortgages, home equity lines of credit and home improvement loans -- all of which have been hard for same sex couple to receive from traditional lenders.

The bank also will welcome business from heterosexual couples who are not married, who often find themselves fighting the same kinds of troubles as gays and lesbians.

"Our research has found a couple of things," said bank founder Steven Dunlop of Pensacola, Fla., "A lot of gay and lesbian couples are not comfortable going to their local bank for a loan because of the fear of being outted in their communities.

"And, a lot of banks still think the marriage certificate, that legal piece of paper, somehow means you're more credit worthy."

Dunlop, who is gay, describes himself as a social liberal and fiscal conservative. "We believe the color of money is green and that people are people and shouldn't be put into a box on the basis of their lifestyles," he said.

He said he is confident his bank will find a niche among the 15 million to 40 million gays and lesbians believed to be in the United States, who spend an estimated $800 billion per year.

Traditionally, banks have looked upon married couples as more stable and therefore more credit worthy than non-married couples or homosexual couples.

"But the divorce rate in this country is something like 50 percent," Dunlop said. "I don't think that stereotype holds up anymore."

Dunlop says banks typically shun the business of gays and lesbians. He said he was aware of one gay couple attempting to get a mortgage that was forced to secure document after document, taking weeks to obtain, only to be turned down.

The same couple went to another mortgage broker and was approved within 24 hours.

"They believe the process was made more difficult because of their domestic partnership relation," he said, even though each man's income was about $99,000.

Dunlop also believes the Internet represents the future for all banking and is adamant that there never will be a brick-and mortar G&L Bank.

"Why would you ever again get into your car, drive down to the bank and wait in line for some grumpy teller, when you can do it all over the Internet, at 1 o'clock in the morning," he said.

Dunlop said G&L still has some due diligence to do before opening but he felt confident it would be ready for business by Oct. 11, the national coming out day for gays and lesbians.

In addition to mortgages and home loans, the bank will provide a consumer and business banking products including checking accounts, overdraft protection, electronic bill payments, ATM/MasterMoney check cards, regular and money-market savings, CDs, IRAs, traveler's and cashier's checks, auto loans and consumer and business loans.

Information on the bank can be found at: http://www.glbank.com

Published: July 7, 1999

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.