PA Legislature Ends Another Session Without Taking Action on Discrimination Against LGBT People

Equality Pennsylvania Takes the Message Directly to Voters, Talking to Thousands of Voters at their Doors and Over the Phone

Harrisburg - October 27, 2016 – Today the Pennsylvania legislature will close another session without moving legislation to end legal discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in spite of two years of intense grassroots lobbying, serious negotiation, and support from both sides of the aisle.

Ted Martin, Executive Director of Equality PA, expressed his disappointment on behalf of the nearly 300,000 LGBT residents of Pennsylvania, "People are still shocked to learn that there are no state or federal protections from discrimination at work, in housing, or in business services for gay and transgender people, and once again after more than a decade of consideration of this issue, another session will end without passing LGBT nondiscrimination legislation. That's why we are taking our message directly to voters to elect champions for progress on LGBT equality."

Martin continued, "Equality Pennsylvania will knock on nearly 200,000 doors and call tens of thousands of voters this year to remind them what is at stake in this election. We need equality champions in office if we want to continue to advance LGBT equality."

This year, working in partnership with For Pennsylvania's Future, Equality PA launched an unprecedented get-out-the-vote campaign to remind voters what's at stake in this election. While there has been considerable progress for the LGBT community in recent years with marriage equality, many of the candidates who are running for office right now want to turn that progress back. And—the LGBT community is still waiting for basic discrimination protections that will only be passed by committed LGBT equality champions. 

Equality Pennsylvania is currently running the largest swing state-based get-out-the-vote program to activate voters around LGBT issues. The targeted candidates for the Equality PA GOTV efforts include:

Hillary Clinton for President
Katie McGinty for US Senate
Josh Shapiro for Attorney General
Maureen Madden  for HD-115 
Joseph Ciresi for HD-146 
Carolyn Comitta  for HD-156        
Matthew Darragh for HD-170 
Joseph Hohenstein for HD-177

PAID FOR BY EQUALITY PENNSYLVANIA (EQUALITYPA.ORG) AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR COMMITTEE.

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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