State College encourages neighboring municipalities to enact LGBTQ protections
In an effort to ramp up the region’s protections for LGBTQ+ people, officials in State College are pushing other municipalities in Centre County to follow suit in creating an LGBTQ anti-discrimination ordinance.
Pennsylvania’s non-discrimination law still does not include sexual orientation and gender identity, despite advocacy from LGBTQ groups and politicians. As such, policies banning discrimination of LGBTQ folks exist only locally in specific municipalities around the state.
For over 15 years, State College has been the only municipality in Centre County to outlaw discrimination against LGBTQ folks in housing, employment and public accommodation. Last month their council voted to create the Regional Human Rights Commission. The commission will “investigate complaints of discrimination and… facilitate mediation and conciliation of any founded violations,” Spotlight PA State College reported.
Commission leadership is looking for other municipalities to become members.
“This regional approach is unique in Pennsylvania,” State College Borough Council President Jesse Barlow told Spotlight PA. “A number of local elected officials have been pushing for this approach for several years.”
As of May 2022, at least 71 of the 2,562 Pennsylvania municipalities have non-discrimination ordinances in place, according to Pennsylvania Youth Congress. Provided enough Centre County municipalities express interest, Barlow plans to encourage the county to institute a non-discrimination ordinance, he said in an email to Spotlight PA.
New doc featuring Malcolm Kenyatta to premiere at UK LGBTQ film fest
A new documentary about Malcolm Kenyatta’s 2022 campaign for U.S. Senate will premiere at BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival in March. Executive produced by journalist and TV personality Al Roker, “Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn” tells the story of Kenyatta’s fight to represent and uplift working people, and highlights his journey as a Black gay public figure.
“Malcolm Kenyatta offers hope to so many, especially those that have had their voices silenced due to societal inequality,” Roker said in a press release. “His energy is infectious and his message is powerful. He is a rising star for a new generation of voters and this documentary gives keen insight into what it takes to get elected in America today. I am honored to profile his courageous, never-back-down fight to make Pennsylvania a better place.”
“When you know what it’s like to be marginalized and treated unfairly simply because of who you are, I think you make a better legislator,” Kenyatta says in the documentary’s trailer.
The documentary also features filmmaker Lee Daniels, actress Tichina Arnold, journalists from Politico and the Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as a host of Pa. voters. Other executive producers of the film include Tracie Brennan and Lisa Tucker of Al Roker Entertainment, Timothy Harris of Seven Knots Film & Media, and Hunter Johnson and Derek Helwig of Xpedition. Harris also directed the film.
“Tim Harris represents the vanguard of new filmmakers — breaking conventions and telling stories that yearn to be told,” Kenyatta said in a press release. “The joy of this project is that it required no pretense, just unguarded honesty. The entire team made that effortless. Our distinctions should be celebrated — this film does that.”
“Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn” is scheduled to run on March 17 and 18 at BFI Flare: London, the UK’s largest queer film event. The film is also set to screen at The American Documentary and Animation Film Festival in Palm Springs on March 31. A local release, while expected, has not yet been announced.
State Rep. reintroduces bill to fund art uplifting marginalized communities
Pennsylvania state Rep. Ben Waxman has introduced legislation that would form a grant program for state organizations and artists whose public art benefits historically marginalized communities. Waxman reintroduced the bill initially put forth by his predecessor, lawyer and politician Brian Sims. The bill also honored LGBTQ leader Gloria Casarez, whose mural in the gayborhood was destroyed in 2020 to make way for a new real estate development.
“I decided to re-introduce this bill because I believe that our public art should be reflective of the diversity of our Commonwealth,” Waxman said in an email. “I also chose to reintroduce this bill because it was originally designed to honor LGBTQ+ icon Gloria Casarez. She made a tremendous impact on our city and her mural deserved to be respected. Hopefully my legislation can make public art more representative of the beauty and diversity of our communities.”
Casarez, who passed away in 2014, served as the first director of Philadelphia’s Office of LGBT Affairs, led the Latinx social justice organization galaei, and fought for positive change for marginalized communities of all stripes.
“As seen with the destruction of the mural dedicated to Gloria Casarez, if the Commonwealth does not raise up the voices of marginalized artists and communities, their impact on the culture of Pennsylvania will be lost,” the proposed legislation reads.