Yes, the midterm election is over, but another election takes place around Nov. 17 that can actually put LGBT rights into play in Pennsylvania. And you and I don’t even get a vote. It’s the race for Democratic leadership in the state Senate. The Democratic leadership in the state House is already LGBT-friendly thanks to people such as Babette Josephs and Mike O’Brien, but not the state Senate. And the Senate can be where we finally get equality.
Leadership can get legislation out of committee and onto the floor and has the clout to create a coalition to get it passed.
This is an inside game and only the senators get to vote. But this time, for the first time in history, we have a progressive slate of state senators committed to LGBT nondiscrimination as part of their legislative agenda if elected. A state ENDA could be in reach.
There’s another reason this vote is important. The progressive pro-LGBT slate is from Southeastern Pennsylvania. To be blunt, leadership means funds back to your district, and the reality is that over the last couple of years, Philadelphia and the rest of Southeastern Pennsylvania has lost leadership and thus funds. We’re losing our champion or rainmaker named Ed Rendell: He’s gone this January and will be replaced by someone from Western Pennsylvania. Gee, what do you think his priority will be? Not Southeastern PA. Couple that with Senate leadership from Western Pennsylvania and the financial outlook is grim.
So we have three issues here: progressive policies, an inclusive LGBT equality position, and funding to assist Philadelphia and Southeastern Pennsylvania in dealing with the current recession.
Why is this important to us? Does anyone remember the antigay-marriage constitutional amendment that was introduced in the Senate a couple years ago? It was our friends Sens. Tony Williams and Vince Fumo who kept up the heat by constantly introducing amendments; in the background, Sen. Stack and his staff quickly wrote one after another. The Republicans gave up after our amendment to outlaw all divorce in Pennsylvania. These senators at that time were not friends, but they had one issue in common: our equality. So they worked together and we defeated the Republicans’ attempt to make us third-class citizens. Now that Fumo is gone, Stack and Williams are all that we have left of that coalition. Luckily, they have been joined by Sen. Farnese, who has stepped up successfully. Along with a majority of the Philadelphia delegation, they are now poised for leadership. And they are telling their colleagues that LGBT issues are to be treated as a Democratic priority, not on the backburner.
Any elected official can easily talk the talk. By putting LGBT issues in the forefront, these senators are walking the walk. Win or lose, they clearly point to a new day in Pennsylvania.
Mark Segal is PGN publisher. He is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media, having just received the 2010 Columnist of the Year Award from the 2,000-member Suburban Newspapers of America. He can be reached at [email protected].