It’s Tuesday and I have just returned from giving a tour of the future John C. Anderson Apartments, the LGBT-friendly senior-living facility.
I’m rushing to finish this column before rushing off to a fundraiser so that I can get home in time to rush to see the new 75th-anniversary 3D version of “Wizard of Oz.” And that will be my down time for the day.
In the middle of all this, the phone just rang. It was a candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, who was of course looking for PGN’s endorsement. So let’s be absolutely clear here: PGN has not endorsed any candidate for governor at this stage.
Granted, it was this column that first made the point that Congresswoman Alyson Schwartz would run, would be a strong candidate and actually had a chance. That column was written back in December when many were laughing her off as a serious candidate. Their reasons were mostly sexist, and it made me angry. But that column was not an endorsement.
As has been my mantra since the early days of the LGBT struggle for equality, we as a community must put our issues first as, if we do not, no one else would. Then and only then, should we look at the various other issues that affect us all.
The LGBT issues in Pennsylvania are pretty serious, since the Keystone State went from being a vanguard for LGBT rights in the mid-’70s to being one of the few states that offers no protections for sexual orientation or gender identity. Many localities in the state have passed their own nondiscrimination laws, and Philadelphia has some of the nation’s strongest pro-LGBT policies, but what about those communities in rural Pennsylvania?
Many believe that marriage equality is our number-one issue. Equality in all forms is needed, but here’s a simple fact: You can win marriage equality today, go on your honeymoon in rural Pennsylvania and be refused a reservation for the honeymoon suite or even be denied a hotel room. You can come home and be fired since your name appeared in the wedding announcements of your local paper. And finally, in many parts of Pennsylvania, you can be tossed out of the apartment or home you have.
But marriage equality is mostly about those of us who can afford to be out. The reality is, while we’d like to get married in our own state, we can go to Delaware or New York and do the deed. But those who are discriminated against, mostly those in the closet, where do they go to get their lives back?
So, back to the governor’s race. We are blessed to have all the serious Democratic candidates supporting marriage equality. The questions that need to be asked on that issue are, When did you come to the mat with us and what have you done to advance the cause? But for me, I’m interested to know that the candidates’ plans are to pass a nondiscrimination bill. Will it be a priority in their administration and to what extent?
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of elected officials putting out press releases everyday. Putting out releases and talking is grandstanding. Show me a plan for results.
Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media. He can be reached at [email protected].