PA Commission on LGBTQIA Affairs meeting on August 7

On Friday, August 7, the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ Affairs held their quarterly meeting via Zoom.

With advocacy from commission members, PA Department of Health is now collecting sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data when tracking COVID-19 infections.

On June 4, there was a joint statement issued by Pennsylvania Commissions on African American, Latino, Asian Pacific American, Women and LGBTQ Affairs honoring the memory of George Floyd and other Americans of color who have lost their lives to police violence, and denouncing indoctrinated racism, bigotry and sanctioned violence.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is now issuing driver's licenses with a gender non-binary marker. This does NOT require documentation from a doctor or social worker.

On June 5, the commission issued a statement defending Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine and denouncing transphobia in the Commonwealth.

The PA Department of Aging (PDA) is working on their four year plan, a regularly recurring task. On July 15. the PDA held a virtual town hall about the proposed plan specifically targeting the LGBTQ community. About 150 people participated.

Sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data is not being collected by the 2020 US Census, but LGBTQ people are strongly encouraged to complete the census, as it directly ties into Federal funding for the next decade for the communities that we live in. Co-vice-chair Ciora Thomas and executive director Rafael Alvarez Febo are working on an LGBTQ Census Initiative to gather data for our Commonwealth. This is an opportunity for engagement while getting data for advocacy.

We will probably have to wait until the next legislative session to push the non-discrimination act. Although the recent US Supreme Court decision on Title VII extended anti-discrimination to employment, it still should be in state law explicitly, and the SCOTUS ruling does not address housing or public accommodations, or smaller employers. The PA Human Relations Commission is currently accepting claims related to sexual orientation and gender identity. Pennsylvania needs comprehenesive legislation that explicitly includes sexual orientation and gender identity.

The SCOTUS Title VII ruling's implications for Title XI, which would affect queer youth in school is not clear. It is hoped that the ruling will encourage school districts to create policy addressing queer youth.

The Commonwealth's collection of SOGI data for COVID-19 is a step forward, as Pennsylvania was the first in the nation to take this step. However, data collection for COVID-19 is only collected regarding infection, but not hospitalization or mortality. The PA Department of Health is still looking for contact tracing staff.

Aging committee discussed the submission of the PDA four-year plan for review. While waiting for the plan to be formally adopted in September, the next task is to review the web site for the PA Department of aging and also regional area agencies on aging for cultural competence.

The Education committee is working with the Department of Human Services to support queer youth and finding out resource gaps for youth. There are internet inequities with marginalized communities within the LGBTQ youth population being able to access resources, which is particularly critical during the current COVID crisis. In addition to locating resources, we also need to focus on ways to get info to consumers.

Health committee continues to work on sexual health guidelines for the PA Dept of Health, also education for Intersex Awareness Day on Oct 26.

Legislative and Policy committee is planning strategies around comprehensive non-discrimination legislation. They need help with collecting stories of the impact of currently not having this legislation.