The linked article is from the Philadelphia Gay News and does a great job detailing what may be up for LGBT legislation in Pennsylvania. For two years now, I’ve been writing about PA HB 300, and PA HB 745, and now, both are essentially dead, until new versions are drafted and raised in the new session. If they can be raised.
One of my big complaints of the progressive blogosphere throughout the last election cycle, was that few (if any??) other bloggers were doing anything to help Democratic wins in the PA legislature. Most bloggers were so unhappy with Dan Onorato as the choice for Governor, that they just stayed out of the discourse for the most part. While I respect any blogger’s right to write about those issues and people they want to, the downside of this was losses in the bigger picture. A large Democratic turnout would have minimized the possibility to lose the PA House, and would have saved the chances for further LGBT Rights progress next year. My fear is that Republican leadership in both the House and the Senate won’t allow any pro-LGBT legislation to be introduced or out of committee, leaving it DOA from the get go. Time will tell.
This Tuesday, on thomascwaters on Blog Talk Radio (BTR), I’ll be interviewing Ted Martin, Executive Director of Equality PA to talk specifically about what will be happening in Pennsylvania now that the election is over, and we have some idea of the political climate we are in. I’m sure he will have some great things to share, so please tune in to listen live at Blog Talk Radio. You can also call in and ask questions, or participate in an on-line chat. Last week, my BTR guests were Andy Hoover of the ACLU, and Jake Kaskey, former policy director at Equality Advocates, now known as Equality PA. That program is archived and available for download.
Here is a snip from the PGN article, and the full link is below:
Leadership in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives last week abruptly announced the body would not finish out its legislative session, a decision it reversed on Wednesday. But although the House will likely return to take up measures such as a pension-reform bill, any chance of passing pro-LGBT measures are now over.
This latest session saw efforts to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the state’s nondiscrimination and hate-crimes laws, as well as bills to provide relationship recognition for same-sex couples. Those measures, however, are unable to proceed now, as all need bicameral action, and the Senate announced earlier this year it would not reconvene after the mid-term elections.
Republicans, who were already in control of the state Senate, also won a majority of the state House in the election. Several ally lawmakers who cosponsored the pro-LGBT measures this session are retiring, such as Keith McCall, Kathy Manderino and Frank Oliver, and others, like Todd Eachus, were unseated in the election. Rep. Robert Donatucci, who cosponsored a number of LGBT measures, died suddenly this week.
thomascwaters on BTR: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thomascwaterscom