A realtor who was found to have violated an anti-discrimination rule due to posting memes on his personal anonymous Instagram account critical of LGBTQ has filed a lawsuit against the Arizona Association of Realtors (AAR). Represented by attorney Ryan Heath, Chad DeVries filed Devries v. Arizona Association of Realtors in July 2024, alleging that the AAR did not have authority over his personal conduct, and asserted that by punishing him, he will not be able to access the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for real estate, preventing him from doing his job until the discipline is completed.
Podcaster and real estate pro Notorious Rob posted a couple of the memes from DeVries’ Instagram account, which is accessible only to followers and does not have his name on it. One of the memes shows a pregnant man with another man, titled “Man Gives Birth to Child.” DeVries added a comment, “I feel like we live on Mars. WTF”
Several realtors who are competitors of DeVries (pictured above) filed the complaints against him. They also accused him of discrimination for posting memes making partisan jokes, including poking fun at Democratic politicians.
“Ironically, one of the posts cited as evidence of an Article 10 violation features a statement by Plaintiff that he has ‘two married gay children whom he ‘love[s],’” the complaint said. During an interview with Notorious Rob, DeVries said he also has numerous gay clients. He said they send him similar memes, “We used to be able to laugh in this country.”
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