A state representative this week will reintroduce an LGBT-inclusive bill protecting Pennsylvanians from hate crimes.
State Rep. Kevin Boyle said he will submit the bill to the House of Representatives, and it will be referred to the Judiciary Committee. The legislation will amend the state’s existing hate-crime law to extend protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. As of presstime, the bill has 37 cosponsors.
State law currently defines a hate crime as one motivated by a victim’s race, color, religion or national origin; Boyle’s bill would also expand protections to include ancestry and disabilities, in addition to LGBT protections.
Boyle referred to a New York Times report that found the disproportionate effect of hate crimes on LGBT people.
“If we’re going to have a hate-crimes statute on the books, I certainly believe the group that is most susceptible to be targeted because of their identity should be protected under the law,” Boyle told PGN.
The Pennsylvania legislature added sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s hate-crimes law in 2002, but that measure was later overturned by the judiciary on a procedural technicality.
Boyle’s brother, former state Rep. Brendan Boyle, who now serves in the U.S. Congress, moved his version of the bill forward through a successful committee vote in 2014 but it stalled before being brought to the floor. Boyle reintroduced it in 2015 but it died in committee.
To move forward with this latest incarnation of the bill, Boyle encouraged supporters to put pressure on Rep. Mike Turzai, speaker for Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives. Boyle said Turzai has been hesitant to bring the legislation forward because of the speaker’s conservative followers within the Tea Party.
“It’s really a matter of constituents — and not just in my district but throughout Pennsylvania — reaching out to their state representatives and their state senators asking them to do all they can to get a vote on this,” Boyle said. “I think the area that would make the most difference would be the Philadelphia suburbs, specifically areas that are represented by Republican lawmakers.”
Overall, Boyle is optimistic about the bill’s future.
“There is opposition to this bill from the Tea Party and the hardcore social conservatives in the Republican caucus but I strongly believe that if this were to get an up or down vote on the House floor, it would definitely pass,” Boyle said.
Sen. Larry Farnese will reintroduce the bill to the Senate, though his office did not have a timeframe as of presstime.
“We have reserved Senate Bill 96 for that but it has not been introduced yet,” said Sally Keaveney, a spokesperson for Farnese. “We are just letting it accumulate some more co-sponsors before we send it out.”