thomascwaters.com

I posted earlier about a conservative blog called A Right Turn. The link to at the bottom of this post. The post is interesting in that the writer claims that no one should be discriminated against only for being gay or transgender, but then goes on to claim the bill does many things it does not do. PA HB 300 provides protection based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression in the areas of housing, employment, and public accommodations. Here is what was said in terms of Babette Joseph:

State Government Committee Chairwoman Babette Josephs, D, 182nd, Philadelphia claims that 80% of Pennsylvanians could be kicked out of their apartments, treated badly in public accommodations,or lose their jobs if this bill isn’t passed. She has taken her cue’s from President Obama well, again another democrat trying to play alarmist to get their agenda pasts. Just as Obama has over and over created a crisis and fear to hurry through spending legislation Ms. Josephs is attempting to create the fear that most of us are at risk. The fact is the gay and trans gendered population of Pennsylvania is FAR lower that 80% of our population.

I contacted her office for a clarification and received this in reply:

What I actually said was that 80% of Pennsylvanians live or work in communities that do not offer the protections from discrimination that House Bill 300 provides. To put it another way, only 20% of Pennsylvanians live in communities that offer these protections.

This refers to the 13 municipalities in Pennsylvania that have already enacted civil rights protections on their own accord. Allentown, Easton, Erie County, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lansdowne, New Hope, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Swarthmore, West Chester and York each have municipal ordinances similar to H.B. 300. State College also has an ordinance that covers only sexual orientation in housing and employment. But the fact remains that an individual can live in Harrisburg and be protected from discrimination and lose these protections by crossing the bridge to his place of work in Camp Hill. House Bill 300 addresses this problem by giving state-wide protections to people in Pennsylvania from another highly documented form of discrimination. It is neither justified nor defensible for a person’s geographical location to effect the basic right to live and work without discrimination in our Commonwealth.

Representative Babette Josephs

http://arighturn.com/right.php/2009/03/17/pa-house-bill-300#c10