Marriage Equality for PA Vigil at Gov. Tom Corbett's Erie Office

On Friday, April 26, 2013, a delegation from Marriage Equality for PA (which became Pennsylvania Equality Project in late 2014)delivered their three petitions to the Governor of Pennsylvania's office located in Erie, PA at 100 State Street. From Marriage Equality for PA: The time to break our silence has come. We know the Governor keeps a busy schedule, and probably does not have time to see us personally. Nevertheless, we delivered to his office staff, our petitions to do the following:

1. Approve Senate Bill 719 and make marriage equality the law in Pennsylvania. We want to end the injustice that comes as a result of couples being denied their equal rights and treatment under the law.

2. End legal discrimination in all public accommodations. Whether it is housing, education, employment, lodging, or any other public venue, no legal reason should exist to discriminate against anyone who happens to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.

3. End "ex-gay" or "conversion" therapy in Pennsylvania. No one should have to endure the misery that comes from being forced to renounce being gay or lesbian. The quackery that is this therapy is the 21st Century equivalent of snake oil salesmen. According to former PA State Representative Babette Josephs, “As homosexuality is not a disorder, so attempts to ‘convert’ the sexual orientation of anyone, particularly a minor, threatens the individual’s short- and long-term health and well-being.

Photos are by Deb Spilko, coeditor for Erie Gay News.