Equality PA Applauds the Introduction of the PA Fairness Act

New bills in House and Senate will update discrimination laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity and expression and have bi-partisan co-prime sponsors

Harrisburg - August 26, 2015 – Today the PA Fairness Act was introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly to update the Human Relations Act to ensure that no one can be fired from a job, turned away from a business, or evicted from a home just for being gay or transgender.

"Most people in Pennsylvania are shocked to learn that it is still legal to discriminate in Pennsylvania just because of who a person is or who a person loves. We applaud the bi-partisan co-prime sponsors of the PA Fairness Act who introduced bills today to update the discrimination laws of Pennsylvania to include sexual orientation and gender identity and expression," said Ted Martin, Executive Director of Equality PA.

The PA Fairness Act, or HB 1510 and SB 974, are companion bills that update the Human Relations Act to include gender identity and expression and sexual orientation. The Human Relations Act, originally written in 1955, currently protects people from discrimination based on race, color, religion, ancestry, age, sex, national origin, disability.

The PA Fairness Act was introduced today by co-prime sponsors, Rep. Dan Frankel (D-23), Rep. Tom Killion (R-168), Sen. Larry Farnese (D-01), and Sen. Pat Browne (R-16). The bills have a long list of bi-partisan co-sponsors in both the House and the Senate. The House Bill, HB 1510, has 83 co-sponsors, and the Senate Bill, SB 974, has 25 co-sponsors.

There is widespread support for updating Pennsylvania's discrimination laws to protect gay and transgender people around the state:

• The most recent Susquehanna Research Poll found that 74% of Pennsylvanians support updating the law.
• More than 400 small businesses signed on to support the campaign to end discrimination against gay and transgender people.
• Currently, 89 percent of Fortune 500 companies have sexual orientation non-discrimination policies; while 66 percent have gender identity non-discrimination policies.
• The bishops of three Christian denominations in Pennsylvania have released public letters asking the state to update the discrimination laws to include gender identity and expression and sexual orientation.
  • Letter from the Episcopal Bishops of PA
  • Letter from Methodist Bishops of PA
  • Letter from Lutheran Bishops of PA
• More than 600 clergy and more than 1000 lay faith leaders from more than 31 denominations have signed on to a moral statement in support of nondiscrimination.
• The Board of the PA Council of Churches voted in June of 2015 to send a statement to legislators asking them to protect LGBT people from discrimination in Pennsylvania.
• The AFL- CIO released a public statement in support of protecting gay and transgender people from discrimination.
• The Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, the Harrisburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce all support updating the law to protect gay and transgender people.

ABOUT EQUALITY PENNSYLVANIA

With 60,000 members across the commonwealth, Equality Pennsylvania is the leading organization advancing equality and opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Pennsylvanians.

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