City Councilmembers Blondell Reynolds Brown and James Kenney last week introduced legislation that would extend punishment for hate crimes in Philadelphia to LGBT people.
The bill would add a new chapter to the Philadelphia Code to provide additional penalties for hate crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity and disabilities as defined in the city’s Fair Practices Ordinance.
The measure was introduced in direct response to the gay-bashing incident that took place in Philly Sept. 11.
Pennsylvania’s hate-crimes law was amended in 2002 to include sexual orientation, gender identity and disability, but those provisions were later removed because of a procedural technicality.
When it was reported that the attack could not be prosecuted as a hate crime, Reynolds Brown and Kenney took swift action to address the issue.
“My staff got busy right away like Councilman Kenney’s to figure out what we can do as a city to address this issue,” Reynolds Brown told PGN this week. “The yield is the bill Councilman Kenney and I introduced last week.”
Under the proposed legislation, offenders could face a maximum 90 days in jail and a fined up to $2,000.
The proposed bill is an attempt to close the “hate crimes loophole” in Harrisburg, Reynolds Brown said.
“Philadelphia is known all over the world as a city that celebrates and values diversity and we will not allow a few thugs to tarnish that reputation,” she said. “It is shameful that this legislation is necessary in 2014, but as Councilman Kenney and I have demonstrated in the past, we are proud to do it.”
The bill will be assigned to the Public Safety Committee, which will then schedule a public hearing where members of the community can testify in favor of the bill. A hearing has tentatively been scheduled for later this month. Anyone wanting to testify can call 215-686-3438.
Reynolds Brown is confident the bill will move forward quickly.
“I expect it will move out of the Public Safety Committee unanimously and then will go back to the Committee of the Whole, where all 17 of us will have the chance to register our opinions. Then we’ll vote again and it will go to the mayor’s desk where — given his track record on LGBT issues — I expect he will sign it into law. I hope to see this become law by Nov. 2.”