The mayor of Hatboro, which was poised to become the first municipality in Montgomery County to adopt an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination law, vetoed the measure this week.
Democratic Mayor Norman Hawkes exercised his veto power during the Hatboro Council meeting Monday night, quashing the ordinance that the council passed in a 4-3 vote last month. The measure would have banned LGBT discrimination and established a human-relations commission to investigate complaints based on a number of characteristics.
The council could override the veto with a 5-2 vote in favor of the ordinance, meaning one of the three Republicans who voted against the bill would need to switch his vote.
A special council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 at Hatboro Borough Hall, 414 S. York Road, where an override vote will be taken.
The bill’s prime sponsor, Councilwoman Nancy Guenst, said she wasn’t very optimistic that the council would be able to override the veto, but urged LGBTs and allies to turn out in full force to demonstrate support for the measure.
If the override vote is not successful, Guenst said the only other option would be the reintroduction of the measure in the future, with the hopes that Hawkes will have changed his mind at that time.
Hawkes told PGN this week that the decision was not a personal one, but rather he felt the state has better resources to handle discrimination complaints.
“I have no religious or moral issues with this ordinance; I just feel it could be much better handled on the state level than on the local level,” he said. “I understand there’s not currently a provision to cover [sexual orientation and gender identity] at the state level, but I would like to see that enacted. I just think the state is more qualified than the local government to handle this.”
Guenst disagreed.
“I think his reasoning has no merit, no merit whatsoever. The [LGBT-inclusive state nondiscrimination bill] has been sitting in committee for 10 years and he knows it,” she said, arguing that she believes the mayor has personal issues with the women and fellow Democrats on the council. “This had nothing to do with human rights or anything else. It was personal and I am just disgusted. I called for his resignation that night and told him he’s an embarrassment. The whole thing was an embarrassment.”
Regardless of the motivation, Guenst said the veto upset many LGBTs in the area, rendering them “second-class citizens.”
Ted Martin, executive director of Equality PA, said the mayor’s veto was an insult to LGBTs in Hatboro and the region.
“Straight people have the ability to go to the state human-relations commission, not gay people,” he said. “What he did is nothing more than disenfranchise all the LGBT residents of Hatboro who were once again thrown to the wolves. He had an opportunity to say that Hatboro stands for equality and that Hatboro stands for what is right, and he completely ignored that.”
Hawkes said at the meeting he received numerous e-mails in opposition to the measure, but also noted there was support for the bill.
“Actually, most of the feedback I’ve gotten on the street has been positive,” he said. “Everyone agrees that no one should be discriminated against. But it’s when you really get into the details is where there are some concerns.”
Guenst said all of the public response she received was positive, except for a campaign launched by the American Family Association of Pennsylvania shortly before the vote that was directed from outside of Hatboro.
Hawkes’ veto comes as another suburban municipality, Lower Merion, was preparing to pass its own LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance Wednesday night, which was expected to be approved.
Pennsylvania currently has 17 municipalities that offer nondiscrimination protections for the LGBT community.
With several areas in the region now considering such measures, Martin advised that the Hatboro veto represents the challenges that some of those towns could face.
“What this means is that we have a hard battle ahead of us. This is not going to be easy,” he said. “Like everything the LGBT community fights for, this is going to be tough. We have to redouble our efforts, we have to be damn sure that whatever we’re supporting is going to pass and we have to be prepared for surprises from all kinds of corners. Nothing we’ve gotten has come easily, and this is more proof.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].