There was a secret meeting in Harrisburg in October. A few of us were requested to meet with Gov. Corbett at the governor’s residence. There was only one topic on the agenda: how to pass LGBT nondiscrimination in Pennsylvania. That is probably a shock to you, but for the three years that Corbett has been governor, several of us have been working on this issue behind the scenes, most notably Ted Martin of Equality Pennsylvania, and myself since I was already dealing with the governor on the LGBT-friendly senior housing project.
When Corbett took office and we were in the middle of plans for the John C. Anderson Apartments, we thought we would hit a rocky road. But, to our surprise, the governor’s office has been a pleasure to work with. And to the chagrin of his staff, I used every opportunity at each meeting, call or email to push nondiscrimination. They never let me feel that they were being harassed. The conversation eventually went to when it could be done. What I didn’t know is there was another voice in their ear, one of their own: the out co-chair of Corbett’s transition team, Tom Paese.
Ted, Tom and I had our eye on the prize — passing this legislation. Nothing else would we allow to get in the way. Even the governor’s comment relating marriage equality to incest, for which he has apologized. I for one accept that apology. You might have noted that I’ve written various columns stating clearly that nondiscrimination has to be the LGBT community’s number-one agenda item in Pennsylvania. To those who have pushed marriage equality … very simply: You could get married, but then be tossed out of your job, not allowed to go on a honeymoon or book a hotel and maybe lose your apartment. Think that’s not true? Ask former Holy Ghost Preparatory School teacher Michael Griffin, as it happened to him last week. While I appreciate that pressing for marriage equality is the job of many activists, some people are just grandstanding and slowing the process. But Ted, Tom and others at that meeting kept quiet. And rather than shout and condemn the governor, we engaged in conversation. And if you think this was political on his part, think again. It might result in a primary fight for him within his own party.
Many people need to be thanked for getting us to this point. Some might be a surprise to you. The governor’s staff, our First Lady, our longtime lead House sponsor Rep. Dan Frankel, as well as co-prime sponsor Republican Rep. Chris Ross, prime sponsors Sens. Larry Farnese and Pat Browne, Equality Pennsylvania and Ted Martin and the leaders in both chambers who have agreed to work with us. And to the few who haven’t … We want to have a dialogue with you and reach your comfort zone. But my biggest thanks goes to the LGBT community, which has fought for this legislation since 1972, many still with us and believing it will finally happen.
While the governor has now said he supports the legislation, the game is not over. This bill has to pass both the House and Senate before it goes to the governor’s desk. At our meeting with the governor, Ted and Tom were able to say, “Governor, we have the votes in both chambers. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans.”
So, again, we need friends in the Republican Party, and we have them. Condemning all Republicans is a mistake. The truth is that there are Republicans, like Daryl Metcalfe, who will try to stall this bill, but our friends in the Republican Party will try to get it through. As a proud Democrat, we need to give our Republican friends in the State House the support they need to help Metcalfe see the light or move on. So 2014 is now a year of hope.
Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media. He can be reached at [email protected].