With Election Day approaching Nov. 4, PGN reached out to candidates in a number of local contested races: the gubernatorial race and Congressional races in the 13th District, where there was a vacancy, and Seventh and Eighth districts, where Democrats are challenging Republican incumbents.
None of the four Republican candidates — Gov. Tom Corbett, Dee Adcock and Congressmembers Patrick Meehan and Mike Fitzpatrick — responded to PGN’s requests for interviews, while the Democrats — Tom Wolf, state Rep. Brendan Boyle, Mary Ellen Balchunis and Kevin Strouse — participated in interviews about their positions on LGBT issues and their plans for LGBT-rights progress.
Governor
Tom Wolf
Wolf is running as a Democrat against Corbett in the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race.
Wolf is CEO of his family business, the Wolf Organization, which supplies kitchen cabinets and specialty building products.
In 2006, he was appointed Secretary of Revenue in Gov. Ed Rendell’s cabinet. Wolf attended Dartmouth College for his bachelor’s degree, University of London for his master’s and Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his Ph. D., after which he joined the Peace Corps for two years in India.
Wolf said he supports the full gamut of LGBT-rights issues, including legislation to include LGBT protections in the state hate-crimes law.
“We need Pennsylvania to be a safe place for all our citizens, including LGBT people,” he said. “I fully support HB 177.”
Wolf also is in favor of adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the state nondiscrimination law. He noted that, beyond the equal-rights issue, it would be good for business.
“Not only is it the right thing to do, but creating an inclusive work environment is key to the Pennsylvania economy,” he said. “The younger generation of skilled, talented professionals wants to work and states that are safe and open to everyone. In order to attract and retain this generation, we need equality in Pennsylvania.”
Wolf’s company has an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination policy and he extended domestic-partner benefits to employees prior to the state allowing marriage equality, which he supports.
Wolf added he does not believe private business owners have the right to deny services to LGBT people based on religious beliefs. He also said he would “fully support” an LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying law.
“No child should feel unsafe in a Pennsylvania school,” Wolf said.
He said he would support increased funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and research efforts.
“I believe an HIV/AIDS-free generation is possible, and I will do what I can to ensure that research continues,” he said.
Wolf said that, if elected, he would be a strong ally for LGBT equality, and would use his business experiences to draw support from both sides of the aisle.
“I will support all LGBT-related measures that come across my desk. And if there is still opposition from Republicans in the legislature I can go to them and show them the facts are in the numbers. My business grants benefits to same-sex partners; we have a great culture there. Employee satisfaction is extremely high. The company is growing. Equality works. It is good for the Pennsylvania economy.”
Congress
Brendan Boyle (13th Dist.)
State Rep. Brendan Boyle is running as a Democrat for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania’s 13th District, a seat vacated by Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz.
Boyle has served in the state House of Representatives in the 170th District since 2009. He is also an adjunct professor at Drexel University.
Boyle attended Notre Dame University as an undergrad and received his master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government.
In the state legislature, he has backed a number of pro-LGBT measures, and serves as prime sponsor of the current LGBT hate-crimes bill, which saw some movement this session.
“As the author of HB 177, I have been pushing it for years now. I was really happy it passed through the Judiciary Committee. I am extremely disappointed it was not important enough to [Republican] leadership to schedule for an actual vote. It could have been law by now,” he said.
Boyle has also backed the LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination measure and said that support would continue at the federal level.
“I was in favor of nondiscrimination since my first vote in the House. Sadly that is as far as it has gotten since. It should be a no-brainer. I look forward to continuing my advocacy and hopefully being more successful at the national level.”
Job discrimination, he added, is the most pressing issue facing the LGBT community.
“Both statewide and nationally that it is still legal in the United States in 2014 to fire someone because he or she is gay, that is remarkable,” he said. “To me that needs to be addressed, front and center. It is only a militant hostile minority that is standing in the way.”
Boyle added that he opposes a business owner using personal religious beliefs to deny services to LGBT people.
“I think that is a very dangerous precedent. We already recognized that in our civil-rights law, going back half a century,” he said. “In a business that is open to the public, you can’t enforce racial segregation, say at a counter. You certainly cannot do similar things based on sexual orientation.”
He supports LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying legislation and said he has been encouraged that the issue of anti-LGBT bullying has gotten more attention in recent years.
“LGBT or not, bullying is a problem. The No Place for Hate movement — it is very important. I think we have made progress but more has to be done.”
Boyle said he supports increased funding for HIV/AIDS causes, which he said should be part of a larger discussion, especially in Pennsylvania.
“This would be one part of a larger agenda. I think we need increased funding for HIV and AIDS; the sequester has really hurt this. When the federal government cut funding, we felt the brunt of that here in the area more so than in other parts of the state, being a pharma-heavy area. It is incredibly important that we are reinvesting in these critical areas. When it comes to research on big diseases like this, the federal government has to take the lead, the private market can’t do it alone.”
Boyle added that he takes his responsibility as an LGBT ally seriously.
“I would be an advocate at the state and national level. I have always thought the next wave of full equality on these issue is very much helped by members who are not actually members of the LGBT community, but speak openly and unabashedly about these issues and help bring them into the mainstream — convincing folks that are not necessarily allies on this issue to come over onto our side.”
Mary Ellen Balchunis (Seventh Dist.)
La Salle University professor Dr. Balchunis is running as a Democrat for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania’s Seventh District, challenging incumbent Republican Congressman Patrick Meehan.
Balchunis previously served as executive director for the Resource Center for Human Services and, before that, assistant to the mayor for the City of Philadelphia.
She has a Ph.D. in political science, a master’s of public administration from Temple University and earned a bachelor’s in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Balchunis said she is in favor of “strong, LGBT-inclusive” hate-crimes legislation.
“I have shown the Matthew Shepard documentary in my civil-rights class to educate my students on the importance of this issue. Clearly, we do not have enough legislative presence in that area,” she said, noting she also supports expanding nondiscrimination legislation to include LGBT protections. “I am very supportive of it. I do not believe in tolerating discrimination. Period. So certainly not as it pertains to the LGBT community.”
Business owners, she said, should not be permitted to deny services to LGBT people based on religious views.
“I see that as discrimination. It reminds me of the ’50s when blacks could not sit at the bar in the diner. I think that would be a huge step backwards for us. We should be tolerant of each other and each other’s religions and work together.”
Sexual orientation and gender identity, Balchunis added, should be considered protected classes, equal to factors like rage, age and disability.
“Clearly [LGBT people] are discriminated against, bullied, mistreated,” she said. “We need to ensure their protection.”
As a professor, she said she can relate to issues regarding classroom safety and supports LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying measures.
“The stronger, the more inclusive, the better,” Balchunis said. “Schools should be a safe place to go for all students, including LGBT.”
During her time as a mayoral assistant, Balchunis advocated for attention to HIV/AIDS issues, a position she said she would continue in Congress.
“I worked with Mayor Goode during the AIDS crisis and monitored his Commission on Gays and Lesbians. I know how important it is to keep research going.”
If elected, Balchunis said, she would not only back LGBT-inclusive legislation but would work to counter societal ignorance about the LGBT community.
“I would be all about inclusion. The more people are exposed to members of the LGBT community — especially in less-tolerant places outside of Philly — the more acceptance there will be. As a college professor, I would go back to the universities and co-sponsor diversity discussions. Diversity is a win-win. You learn from each other. I would help ensure that LGBTs were included in these events and their voices are heard.”
Kevin Strouse (Eighth Dist.)
Strouse is running as a Democrat for the U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania’s Eighth District, challenging incumbent Republican Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick.
Strouse currently works as the program director of Teach2Serve in New Hope.
He served in the U.S. Army as a ranger from 2001-04, followed by positions in the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, until his departure last year.
Strouse attended Columbia University and received a bachelor’s in literature, and went on to earn his master’s in security studies from Georgetown University in 2009.
He said he is in favor of sexual-orientation and gender -identity inclusion in hate-crimes laws, an issue highlighted by last month’s antigay attack in Philadelphia.
“Given the recent events in Philly, I think it’s imperative that we protect our LGBT citizens. At the state level, given the recent incident, I think the most urgent [LGBT] issue is getting the hate-crimes legislation passed,” noting that his support extends to nondiscrimination legislation, which he said, he backs “100 percent.”
“With respect to ENDA [Employment Nondiscrimination Act], I know the issues changed a little bit following the Hobby Lobby case, but I believe that we still need protection in the workplace — it is crucial,” he said, noting that individual religious views should not be used as an excuse for a company’s discrimination.
Strouse supports LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying legislation and believes sexual orientation and gender identity should be treated as protected classes, along with factors like race, religion and disability.
“I would like to think we don’t need protected classes, but this is the world we live in, and we need protection for LGBT people,” he said.
If elected, Strouse said he would support increased funding for HIV/AIDS causes.
“I think we are never doing enough,” he said. “I would certainly support an increase in funding for AIDS and a broad variety of diseases.”
Strouse pledged to “step up” any time leadership was needed on LGBT issues and would encourage “frank and open discussion.”
“It seems pretty clear to me that we are making progress in the right direction, but we are not there yet,” he said. “For some reason there is not a lot of political courage out there on the state and federal level, not enough champions for the LGBT community in politics.”