Despite the scant distance between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, this week shone light on the widening ideological gap between the two states.
New Jersey officially became the 15th jurisdiction in the country to legalize same-sex marriage Monday. But across the river that day, Pennsylvania Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-12th Dist.) circulated a memo seeking cosponsors for legislation to impeach state Attorney General Kathleen Kane for her pro-marriage-equality stance.
Certainly, Metcalfe represents the far-right fringe that thankfully doesn’t define all of Pennsylvania. But, that a person with such extremist notions as Metcalfe — who was once the lone vote against a resolution honoring Domestic Violence Awareness Month because he deemed the measure to be promoting a “homosexual agenda” — is still in office is a stain on Pennsylvania’s reputation, promulgating our unfortunate Pennsyltucky nickname.
To her credit, Kane took Metcalfe’s threat with the grain of salt it deserves, calling him a bully who is pursuing “media attention and political gamesmanship” through “loud, arrogant and misguided claims.”
Metcalfe’s impeachment threat is based on Kane’s announcement this summer that she would not defend the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, which she deemed to be unconstitutional, from a challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union. The defense has since been taken up by attorneys for Gov. Tom Corbett.
Metcalfe’s motion surely won’t move, but it does have some power.
First, it brings attention to the state ban itself, and allows for debate about the constitutionality of the law. With state after state — including every one in the Northeast besides Pennsylvania — legalizing same-sex marriage, having an open discussion about the complex legalities of the discriminatory law is valuable.
Also, it shows how desperately out of touch — and virulently bigoted and homophobic — Metcalfe is. The more that notion is popularized, the better the chance his days in office are limited. While Metcalfe indeed represents a conservative district, that does not mean there are not forward-thinking, open-minded residents in Western Pennsylvania — who should use this opportunity to educate their fellow voters. Last year, Metcalfe received 29,567 votes for re-election — that’s 29,567 people who should be shown the daily impact that bigotry, supported by people like Metcalfe, has on their fellow Pennsylvanians.
And the victory in New Jersey can also further promote education in the Keystone State. Not only does Pennsylvania lack relationship recognition for same-sex couples, but we don’t even have basic LGBT nondiscrimination protections.
The stark contrast among Pennsylvania and its neighboring states is being thrown into the spotlight. Yes, it’s a shameful designation to hold, but let’s not run from it: The louder and more frequently we talk about the Pennsyltucky problem, the closer we can come to relegating it to the past, where it belongs.