After Richard Jacobson of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, placed a "for rent" ad in his local paper that listed a cottage "ideal for couple," he got into a legal battle that lasted nearly two years, after which the courts finally ruled in his favor. The nonprofit Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council, which monitors housing advertisements in Southeast Wisconsin, filed a complaint that accused Jacobson of "a preference or limitation based on marital status in violation of the Wisconsin Open Housing Law." William Tisdale, a spokesman for the council, says, "An individual deserves the same protection as does someone who is black or gay, and we felt that 'ideal for couple' was just as discriminatory as 'ideal for white' or 'ideal for Catholic.' " Jacobson was slapped with a $500 fine by the state Equal Rights Division, ordered to take a $50 class on writing classified ads, and ordered to reimburse the Fair Housing Council $1,481 for legal fees.

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