People of the Year: Ted Martin & Adrian Shanker
Ted Martin and Adrian Shanker, the duo at the helm of Equality Pennsylvania, were at the forefront of the movement to bring LGBT nondiscrimination to Pennsylvania cities and towns in 2011. (read more)
Equality Pennsylvania Celebrates Passage
of State’s Milestone 25th Non-Discrimination Ordinance (read more)
Pennsylvania House and Senate members partner with Equality PA
to form LGBT Equality Caucus (read more)
Equality Pennsylvania Candidate Endorsements for General Election 2011 (view)
See our new EQUALITY MAPS!! (click here)
SIGN OUR PETITION to Senator Casey! (Sign Now!)
As thousands of gay and lesbian couples across Pennsylvania are doing the hard work of raising kids and building strong families, we shouldn't have to worry that DOMA will deny us the ability to protect our families when we need to most.
The majority of Pennsylvanians support the freedom to marry, and now it's time for Senator Casey to take our voices to Washington to call for an end to this cruel and unjust law. He needs to hear from us now.
Ask Senator Casey to do what's right for Pennsylvania families. Sign this petition and we’ll join with Freedom to Marry and the Courage Campaign to personally deliver the results to his office. (Sign Now!)
Equality Pennsylvania Elects New President and Vice President; Expands Board of Directors
August 15, 2011 Harrisburg – The Board of Directors of Equality Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth’s LGBT advocacy organization, has elected a new slate of officers and expanded its Board to include several new members, further sharpening the organization’s statewide perspective. (Read More)
Statement of Equality Pennsylvania: July 24, 2011: A Bittersweet Day for LGBT Pennsylvanians
Harrisburg: On July 24, New York will truly enter the 21st Century by becoming the sixth state to extend marriage equality to all of its citizens. Starting on that day, anywhere in New York anyone will be able to marry their life partner regardless of their gender. While fair-minded Pennsylvanians rejoice in this remarkable step forward and applaud everyone choosing to marry on that day and beyond, they are once again reminded of the stark contrast drawn by our common border when it comes to LGBT rights.
Same sex marriage is illegal in Pennsylvania. In 70% of the state it is still perfectly legal to fire an LGBT person from their job or deny them a public accommodation like a hotel room or evict them from their apartment. These facts temper the joy of the day for LGBT Pennsylvanians.
First and foremost, Equality Pennsylvania calls on our General Assembly in Harrisburg to correct the inequality faced by LGBT citizens by promptly passing laws that end legal discrimination in both employment and relationships. Just as emphatically we demand that the Assembly not add to our painfully unequal status by acting on such hateful legislation as a constitutional amendment on same sex marriage.
What we do call for is recognition of the opportunities lost by Pennsylvania when it treats its LGBT citizens in so unfair a manner. On a very basic level marriage inequality hurts caring and committed couples each day because they are casually treated as “strangers” in our law. Such discrimination punishes real people, it badly dents our reputation and let’s not forget, hurts our treasury.
Estimates prepared for the New York State Senate detailing the projected economic impact of marriage equality in New York are startling. New York State stands to generate some $391 million in increased economic activity, revenue, and savings during the three years after the marriage equality bill is made law. It is disheartening to look at these numbers and consider all the money Pennsylvania’s government and business community will be losing by continuing to practice bigotry. This is revenue we will never see. At a time of great economic uncertainty, this fact is hard to ignore.
Equality Pennsylvania works to lead a true and honest conversation in Harrisburg about marriage, about discrimination and about how we treat our LGBT citizens in general. Our mission is to be the preeminent LGBT advocacy organization for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and work collaboratively to establish a comprehensive network of individuals and organizations united in securing equal rights for the LGBT community (www.equalitypa.org).
Statement of Equality Pennsylvania on the Re-introduction of
A Marriage Constitutional Amendment: Let’s focus on REAL issues! May 2, 2011 (READ MORE)
Equality Pennsylvania Releases 2011 Polling Showing Statewide Support(AGAIN) for LGBT-Inclusive Non-Discrimination Legislation (map)
Harrisburg – Equality Pennsylvania today released new polling showing strong statewide support for passing LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination legislation. The new poll shows that by a more than 2:1 margin (or 69% to 24%), Pennsylvanians support passage of legislation banning discrimination against individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression on matters dealing with the workplace, public housing and public accommodations; 6% of voters said they are undecided.
“The poll results show not only the basic fairness of Pennsylvanians, but their consistency as well,” remarked Equality Pennsylvania Board President, Brian Sims. “This is the third poll in a row that we have commissioned showing very strong support for this type of legislation. In 2003, the results were 67% in favor, in 2007 it was 70% in favor and today the number is 69%. Not only have people NOT wavered in their view that this type of discrimination is just plain wrong, they have stayed fiercely loyal to that point. Companies would kill to have this kind of loyalty when it comes to their products and we are thankful to see this level of support in Pennsylvania year after year.”
Unfortunately, even though strong and sustained public support has assisted similar legislation introduced in previous sessions of the General Assembly to gain some traction, no floor action has ever been scheduled for non-discrimination legislation in either house of the legislature. In 2009, non-discrimination legislation made it out of one committee in the House, only to die in another later that session. That bill, HB 300, had the largest number of co-sponsors ever in the House (79) for LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination legislation at the end of the last session in 2010.
The poll, conducted February 8-17, 2011, surveyed the views of 1,200 registered voters. The results are being released today to coincide with the introduction of new non-discrimination legislation in the House of the General Assembly by Rep. Dan Frankel (D-23rd District) and the Senate by Senator Pat Browne (R-16th District). The poll also echoed strong support among many different types of people. For example, a majority of “self-described” conservatives (60%), liberals (80%) and moderates (75%) supported the bill, as did a majority of both males and females (at 69%); a majority of Republicans (61%), Democrats (74%) and Independents (74%); and a majority 18-44 year olds (73%), voters 45-59 yrs. olds (66%) and 60+ yrs. (67%). (SEE ENCLOSED MAP FOR REGIONAL POLLING BREAKDOWN).
The mission of Equality Pennsylvania is to be the preeminent LGBT advocacy organization for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and work collaboratively to establish a comprehensive network of individuals and organizations united in securing equal rights for the LGBT community.
Equality Pennsylvania Candidate Endorsements for Primary 2011
Equality Pennsylvania is pleased to announce its statewide candidate endorsements for the 2011 Primary election. (READ MORE)
Sign our Petition for equality in the workplace in Pennsylvania!
STATEMENT OF EQUALITY PENNSYLVANIA:
The Murder of Murray Seidman and Hate Crimes
Harrisburg: This past January, a 70-year-old man was stoned to death by a younger friend who alleged the victim made unwanted sexual advances. According to authorities, 28-year-old John Thomas of Lansdowne said he killed Murray Seidman because the Old Testament refers to stoning gay people. (READ MORE)
Equality Pennsylvania is a strong supporter of workers' rights, and we joined with other progressive organizations to make sure the folks in Wisconsin knew that millions of people nationwide were standing in solidarity with them. But this isn't just about Wisconsin; politicians in 30-plus states have recently proposed anti-union legislation. We've signed on to a solidarity statement with other LGBT organizations and pledge to fight back. Join us on April 4 for the We Are One events to show solidarity.
READ MORE
Why Marriage Matters.
Why is marriage such a hot topic? Because marriage matters.
As more Americans consider what it means to allow same-sex couples to join in civil marriage, you may have questions about what it means and how it works.
We hope that you’ll spend some time here getting the facts and listening to the voices of real couples from all backgrounds talking about why marriage matters to them. (read more)
STATEMENT OF EQUALITY PENNSYLVANIA: Saturday Night Live Misses the Humor (read more)
Equality Pennsylvania Inaugurates New Board Members (read more)
Help EQPA win 25K. Please register and vote every day in January! (read more)
Chick-Fil-A...NO WAY. Don't support deep fried bigotry (learn more)
Election 2010…was it all about the economy? In reputable poll after poll, voters overwhelmingly said “YES!”
Are those who won hearing that message? Perhaps…”we better focus on the fiscal issues and get those resolved before anything else…” said Senator Joseph Scarnati (R-Jefferson).
So why are we about to see a constitutional amendment on marriage being introduced again? For an issue that didn’t even rank in the top 5 concerns of the average Pennsylvania voter, it seems that Rep. Darryl Metcalfe is just determined to make marriage a priority regardless.
Yep, that’s right. Rep. Metcalfe has started gathering co-sponsors in the House of Representatives where he will soon introduce a new constitutional amendment on marriage. It appears that the bad ole’ days are back.
So do you want to let your voice be heard now? Call your house member TODAY and tell them “to stick to the economy and NOT to become a cosponsor of the Metcalfe constitutional amendment on marriage.”
Not sure who your house member is? Then follow this link: click here
Together, let’s tell the General Assembly that fixing the economy is the priority NOT meddling in people’s private lives.
See photos from previous Town Halls & Equality on the Rocks Events:
Monday, Dec. 6 – Lehigh Valley
http://tinyurl.com/34neutg
Thursday, Dec. 9 – North East PA
http://tinyurl.com/2vvkolm
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