This week, PGN covered the story of Gov. Tom Wolf and allies calling for the state legislature to vote on the Fairness Act, which would expand existing nondiscrimination provisions in employment, housing and other areas to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
Beyond that, the proposed bills include new protections against discrimination based on race, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, education status, handicap or disability. That means a whole lot of people would have a lot easier time in life.
Wolf made a similar appeal last October, when he observed that citizens have long since called on the General Assembly to “simply create fairness under state law.” Sounds easy. We have the legislation drafted. In the Senate, Republican Sen. Pat Browne and Democrat Sen. Larry Farnese introduced Senate Bill 613, and in the House, Democrat Rep. Dan Frankel introduced House Bill 1410. Both are stalled in committee with no end in sight.
So why have these bills been “blocked,” to use Wolf’s word, from making it to a vote? It’s not clear, because no one will take responsibility for it.
In the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
Less quoted is the sentence that immediately follows: “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
While the declaration may not be legally binding, it does outline the foundational principles of this republic. The Republican-dominated legislature requires the consent of the governed, particularly as Pennsylvania is heading to a more-representative reconfiguration of electoral maps. It would behoove the party, which has alienated enormous blocks of voters through regressive policies that do not serve the public, to remember that LGBT rights are human rights.
Primary elections in Pennsylvania will be held May 15. Vote accordingly.