A few years ago, I was in Philadelphia and went to the Betsy Ross House, and it made the entire trip to Philadelphia for me! I had always thought about Betsy Ross and the flag as a quaint little story, but seeing the house and learning about her and her life gave me a context to see her (as well as other patriots) with new eyes, and I gained an appreciation for her as well as felt a link to her. This is from a web biography of Betsy Ross:

Elizabeth Griscom — also called Betsy, their eighth child and a fourth-generation American, was born on January 1, 1752.

Betsy went to a Friends (Quaker) public school. For eight hours a day she was taught reading, writing, and received instruction in a trade — probably sewing. After completing her schooling, Betsy’s father apprenticed her to a local upholsterer. Today we think of upholsterers primarily as sofa-makers and such, but in colonial times they performed all manner of sewing jobs, including flag-making. It was at her job that Betsy fell in love with another apprentice, John Ross, who was the son of an Episcopal assistant rector at Christ Church.

Quakers frowned on inter-denominational marriages. The penalty for such unions was severe — the guilty party being “read out” of the Quaker meeting house. Getting “read out” meant being cut off emotionally and economically from both family and meeting house. One’s entire history and community would be instantly dissolved. On a November night in 1773, 21-year-old Betsy eloped with John Ross. They ferried across the Delaware River to Hugg’s Tavern and were married in New Jersey. Her wedding caused an irrevocable split from her family.

I’m sure it is not a stretch for many gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgenders to relate to her experience. Many of us have been cast off by our own families because who we are as people- seems to be at odds with our family’s religious beliefs, and many of us feel this pain deeply. However, how arcane does Betsy’s situation seem today? Today, two people of different faith backgrounds, especially both Christian easily get married. But Gays and Lesbians?  Not so much. For us, the use of religious prejudice and discrimination still apply.

Pennsylvania is currently looking to embed religious bigotry and discrimination into our state’s constitution with SB 707. This has been tried twice before, but both times it has been defeated. Still the radical religious right persists, and is again wasting time and tax dollars to again attempt this change to the constitution.

For me, PA SB 707, the Marriage Protection Amendment, isn’t about marriage equality, but rather it is about a deeper and more important question: will we as Pennsylvanian’s allow discrimination to be embraced by adding it to the constitution? Proponents of the amendment claim that the goal is to protect the family, but the family is not at risk in Pennsylvania at this time nor in the foreseeable future.  So, why now? Why are some pushing so hard on a piece of legislation that won’t change daily life in Pennsylvania?

If the future of our state is important to you, then I urge you to oppose PA SB 707, and demand that our legislators devote their time, and energy, and our resources to solving our state’s issues such as jobs and unemployment, energy, education, public safety, and the environment.