In our last installment of primary interviews, PGN reached out to candidates in contested Congressional races. Below are the responses candidates gave on their LGBT positions and plans.
Brian Gordon (Second Dist.)
PGN: Do you support the Equality Act and what would you do to advance it?
BG: Yes. I drafted something like the Equality Act at the township level. I was the principal drafter of the Lower Merion antidiscrimination ordinance, which added protections for LGBT people in employment, housing and public accommodation. Jason Landau Goodman [founding executive director of the Pennsylvania Youth Congress] approached the township Democrats and wanted to know if we would be interested. All the Democrats looked at each other and said, “Yes, we’re in.” We passed it 13-0 [in 2012] with three Republicans on the board. It was the best thing I ever did as township commissioner. What’s important about that whole exercise is you need someone who can work across the aisle. I could sell it. I could work with the community to make sure it covered their concerns. Republicans didn’t want the ordinance to be horrendously burdensome to businesses. They also have recurring concerns over the cost of government. If you can find ways to accomplish progressive goals cheaply, you can often bring more Republicans on board.
PGN: How would you strengthen LGBT hate-crime reporting? What can be done to combat violence against LGBT people?
BG: I knew about the Matthew Shepard case because it was so well-publicized. I had no idea how many LGBT hate crimes there were outside of that until I started researching on my own. Part of the process is to communicate that [anti-LGBT violence] does exist. I would send email announcements to district attorneys across the commonwealth about the danger to the community in terms of suicides and violence. I’d work with the community to do outreach. In terms of strengthening the law, I’d have to study it. But I’d certainly be happy to include the most protective language possible.
PGN: What can be done at the federal level to combat anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools?
BG: I’d be happy to do memorandums reaching out to public schools and asking that they be part of a teaching module in schools. Combatting violence is one of my top priorities. I’d propose nonviolent citizenship be taught from pre-K to senior year of high school.
PGN: What is your stance on open transgender service in the military?
BG: I don’t understand why it would be a problem as long as a person is performing their job duties to the fullest. I don’t know how to handle all of the issues in terms of men’s and women’s bunks. I’d really have to sit down with representatives of the transgender community and the military to find out what to do.
PGN: What is your plan to address HIV/AIDS? Do you have a plan for targeted outreach to minority communities?
BG: Education is the key to keeping the rates of infection low. In health class in every school, sex education should be taught. It should go to community centers, barbershops and hair salons, good places to have a dialogue. I’d also support mobilizing people together who are already engaged in educating people [about HIV/AIDS].
PGN: Where should the legislative priorities be for LGBT people post-marriage equality?
BG: The highest priority at the federal and state level is to forbid discrimination. It’s a gap. We’re not there yet, but we can be. At the federal level, we need to start to interpret sexual orientation within the sex classification [in antidiscrimination laws]. That’s a great strategy if you think we can’t get a Republican Congress on board [with nondiscrimination laws that include LGBT people]. Recognition of civil rights within LGBT communities is evolutionary. It’s not something that happens automatically, but it comes about over time.
PGN: Why should an LGBT citizen vote for you?
BG: I would be the most skilled candidate to be their advocate at the federal level, given my experience drafting and helping to pass the Lower Merion [nondiscrimination] ordinance.
Steve Santarsiero (Eighth Dist.)
PGN: Do you support the Equality Act and what would you do to advance it?
SS: Yes, I support the Equality Act. To advocate for this critical antidiscrimination measure, I would sign on to cosponsor this bill as well as lobby my colleagues in both parties to support expanding the Civil Rights Act to protect all Americans from unwarranted discrimination. I would work with and listen to leaders in the LGBT community to identify and capitalize on the most compelling and effective messaging strategies, including highlighting how discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and public education impacts the LGBT community on an everyday basis as well as stressing the business community’s support for the Equality Act to demonstrate the economic impact and implications involved.
PGN: How would you strengthen LGBT hate-crime reporting? What can be done to combat violence against LGBT people?
SS: We need to strengthen federal hate-crime laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity. The LGBT community is more targeted for violent hate crimes than any other minority in America and antigay hate crimes are woefully underreported. I would advocate for special training to be provided to law enforcement and related staff who are tasked with responding to hate crimes to ensure that when a member of the LGBT community bravely comes forward to advocate for their personal safety, our laws and law enforcement stand with them.
PGN: What can be done at the federal level to combat anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools?
SS: I will fight to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity on the federal level, including the expansion of LGBT protection in Title IX and Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect students from sex-based harassment and bullying in schools. We must hold school districts accountable to appropriately responding to harassment of their students. As a former teacher, I’ve seen firsthand how bullying can negatively impact a student’s learning experience, and a quality education is vital to success and happiness later in life. I will work with my colleagues in Congress to fully fund the Department of Education and the Department of Justice so that there are adequate resources available to combat anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools. We cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that bullying in schools too often results in depression and suicide. Every student has a right to feel safe in school.
PGN: What is your stance on open transgender service in the military?
SS: I support open transgender service in the military.
PGN: What is your plan to address HIV/AIDS? Do you have a plan for targeted outreach to minority communities?
SS: I believe it is important that funds be targeted to assist and identify populations that are high-risk for HIV/AIDs, including the LGBT community and the African-American community, which are disproportionately at risk for HIV infection. I support investing in high-risk communities to reduce HIV transmission and believe we must track our progress nationally so that the CDC can continually update its funding formula. I support targeting MAI Fund dollars within minority communities that are disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic. It is also necessary that we have a national conversation regarding how best to appropriately provide sex education that goes beyond abstinence-only, which shortchanges our students, and does not reduce unintended teen pregnancies.
PGN: Why should an LGBT citizen vote for you?
SS: As the brother of a gay sister, protecting and expanding rights for LGBT people is an issue of deep personal importance to me. As a state legislator, I was a vocal advocate for marriage equality and antidiscrimination protections for the LGBT community long before those positions were accepted by the mainstream of our party or the majority of Americans. I am a member of the LGBT Equality Caucus in the legislature. I was proud to cosponsor Pennsylvania’s marriage-equality bill in 2013. In 2011, I fought alongside Equality PA to combat discrimination against the LGBT community by cosponsoring legislation to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. While I have always supported the legislature taking action to combat LGBT discrimination statewide, I have also encouraged municipalities in my Congressional district, such as Doylestown, to pass ordinances tackling this issue because it is the right thing to do. I believe the legislative priorities for LGBT people should be to combat discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. No American should be in jeopardy of losing their job or their home because of who they love or who they marry.