PA Commission on LGBTQ Affairs Quarterly Meeting on February 8

On Friday, February 8, 2019, the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ Affairs held their quarterly meeting at the Center on Strawberry in Washington, PA. The commission came up with four major initiatives. Four groups were formed - two within Schools That Teach and one each for Government That Works and Jobs That Pay.

The two Schools That Teach initiatives are Gender education & inclusive sexual health education (this would include LGBT-inclusive curricula in school, similar to legislation recently passed in New Jersey) and Positively impact school climate (which would include creating a toolkit, creating best/promising practices, etc)

The Jobs That Pay initiative includes breaking down regulatory obstacles that prevent access to housing, resources, etc. and also providing access to job/training resources to homeless LGBTQ+ youth

The Government That Works initiative includes implementation of statewide nondiscrimination legislation and also auditing new laws for inclusion or discrimination recognizing these groups: homeless, youth, seniors

These four groups welcome participation from community members outside the commissioners.

The commission will next be meeting on May 3 in Philadelphia, and the following meeting will be here in Erie on August 9, the day before the 27th Annual Erie Pride Picnic.

About the Author

Michael Mahler Michael Kenton Mahler (He/Him) has been the editor of Erie Gay News since it was founded in December 1992. He is also a founding member of NWPA Pride Alliance. He serves on the Governor's Commission for LGBTQ Affairs and is active with Aging with Pride and the Erie County HIV Task Force. He became the first LGBTQ person to be fully out in May 1992 when appearing on local TV coverage. Michael currently works as a software developer for Erie Custom Computer Applications.