The board of Equality Pennsylvania last month doubled its number of members, bringing in new representation from all four corners of the state.
During its Jan. 23 quarterly meeting in Pittsburgh, the board approved seven new members: Kevin Bennett and Dr. Richard McCarty from Erie, Michael Testa and the Rev. Deryck Tines from Pittsburgh, Mary Isenhour from Harrisburg, Richard Levine from Hershey and Adanjesus Marin from Lancaster.
The new members will serve two-year terms, which are renewable three times. The seven join current members president Brian Sims, vice president Mark Usry, secretary Paul Nardone, Lauren Barr, Syngred Briddell, Christopher Gatesman and Adrian Shanker.
Sims said the board was looking to ensure that it was comprised of leaders from throughout the state, an achievement he said will be key to mobilizing LGBT communities across Pennsylvania.
“Pennsylvania is a really big state and, while it’s important for us to be talking about issues in the major urban areas, like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, most of the gains we’ve seen over the last couple years have actually been in the small towns and communities all across the state,” he said. “Having a board that covers the entire state not only lets Pennsylvanians feel like they have a direct connection with leaders in the region, but it’s helping us to say to LGBT Pennsylvanians that we recognize that gay issues are not just issues for people in cities, but also for people in Scranton, Erie, Potter County or State College. All of those areas have a very active role to play in the state’s LGBT movement.”
While the geographical diversity is a boon for the agency, it does make board meetings a bit more challenging. But Sims said the organization, which already housed a board that covered the whole state, has become accustomed to conference-call meetings, in addition to its quarterly in-person meetings at locations throughout Pennsylvania.
In addition, executive director Ted Martin frequently travels across the state and is able to connect with board members during those trips, Sims said.
He said the new board will look at LGBT-rights issues from several different angles.
Equality PA plans to seek support for issues impacting LGBTs from communities of faith, an effort Sims said will be aided by the inclusion of board members Tines, the pastor of ONEchurch, and McCarty, associate professor of religious studies at Mercyhurst College.
“I think one of the things we need to do is reach out to people of faith in Pennsylvania who support civil rights because too often people think that religion is antigay and, while we certainly have seen some strong lobbying from certain religious groups, there is also a place for people of faith in the civil-rights movement,” Sims said.
The group also plans to concentrate on local-level initiatives.
Last year, several suburban municipalities approved LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances, and several others are considering such measures.
“The gains we’ve seen recently haven’t been in major cities but in townships and municipalities, and we want to see those continue,” Sims said. “They didn’t happen because we had a Democratic governor or a Democratic House, but because we had chambers of commerce and town and city councils who don’t want to discriminate and who know that having LGBT protections in place is good for business. So we’re going to be helping to push for municipal nondiscrimination ordinances around the state to keep this going.”
The agency also plans to assist those interested in running for public office.
“Pennsylvania has never had an openly LGBT member of the state legislature, which can have an enormous domino effect for LGBT civil rights in the state,” Sims said. “So we hope that, over the next year, we cannot only help identify but also train people in the state who want to run for public office — whether it’s for their local school board or town council or the legislature.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].