In the last several days, following a directive from the Obama Administration affirming that transgender students should be able to use the restroom consistent with their gender identity, Sen Wagner says that some of his colleagues and opponents of equal protections for LGBT people have nearly bullied him into removing his name from the legislation—citing harmful lies about what this legislation is about and who LGBT people are.
Today, the Senator declared that he “will not be removing my name from this legislation.” In a through update posted to his website, he goes on to affirm that the Pennsylvania Fairness Act isn’t about unfounded claims of public safety incidents in restrooms. It’s about ensuring that all Pennsylvanians can work hard and provide for their families in the state we all call home:
As an employer and a Pennsylvanian, I believe that everyone should be
treated fairly and with dignity.As an employer, I do not care what your sexual preference is as long as you perform at or beyond the required expectations of your job. The fact remains that without this legislation there are a group of citizens that can legally be fired or overlooked because of their sexual orientation instead of their job performance. This is a step in the right direction to ensure workers are not being discriminated against.
This is why I put my name on this legislation, and this is what I will
continue to work toward. The fact that attempts have been made to intimidate me and other supporters of SB 974 to try to get us to remove our co-sponsorships of this legislation and are trying to change the
conversation to make it about men in women’s bathrooms should not deter us from our goal.
We thank Senator Wagner for standing alongside more than 1,000 businesses and a majority of Pennsylvanians who agree that our state and our economy are stronger when all qualified, hardworking Pennsylvanians are protected from discrimination. And our coalition remains more committed than ever to working alongside Senator Wagner and a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers to pass the Pennsylvania Fairness Act to ensure our state is open for business to all, not just some.
]]>]]>The Pennsylvania Fairness Act, which would protect all state residents from discrimination, remains bottled up in House and Senate committees, where it has languished for far too long.
Wolf has urged the Republican-led Assembly to act on those bills. Every right-minded state resident should join him in demanding they move now to bring these long-overdue bills to the floor.
There could be no better time.
The first order mandates that no state agency discriminate against state employees or applicants on the basis of “sexual orientation, gender expression or identity” among other characteristics. The second prohibits state contractors from discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In signing the orders Governor Wolf noted his concern that the legislature has still not taken up the question of providing statewide non-discrimination protections, and based on that felt compelled to take action to protect state employees and all LGBT Pennsylvanians.
“We must show that Pennsylvania is the place that William Penn envisioned when he founded our commonwealth on the principle that it is open, diverse, and inclusive for all people. I call on the General Assembly to swiftly put legislation on my desk that ensures that people throughout the commonwealth – regardless of sexual orientation, gender expression or identity – are treated equally under Pennsylvania law.”
The decision enhances a current Pennsylvania executive order that prohibits discrimination against LGBT state employees. In 1975, Pennsylvania Governor Milton Sharp made history by signing the first executive order in the world prohibiting state employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 2003, Governor Ed Rendell expanded the executive order to include protections from discrimination based on gender identity. Each governor since allowed the order and these state employment protections to continue.
Governor Wolf’s signing today is an important step forward for LGBT rights in Pennsylvania, and it signals momentum for statewide LGBT non-discrimination protections like the Pennsylvania Fairness Act, legislation to update the state’s Human Relations Act to extend non-discrimination protections to gay and transgender Pennsylvanians.
Pennsylvania Competes, a business advocacy organization working to pass the Pennsylvania Fairness Act, today expressed its appreciation for Governor Wolf, but noted the fight to protect gay and transgender Pennsylvanians is far from over. Executive orders do not carry the weight of the law, and their impact is limited to public employees – and moreover, they are limited to the tenure of the governor who took action. Pennsylvania’s next governor could rescind this order on day one.
]]>Harrisburg, Pa. (April 7, 2016) – Pennsylvania Competes, a business advocacy organization working to pass the Pennsylvania Fairness Act to address discrimination against gay and transgender Pennsylvanians, today expressed appreciation to Gov. Wolf for signing two executive orders that include protections for LGBT individuals. The orders prohibit discrimination against LGBT individuals in state government agencies and by state contractors, offering protections to those who would otherwise continue to be vulnerable until the Fairness Act is passed.
Due to the important impact on jobs and the state’s economic climate, and the need to ensure that nondiscrimination policy reaches beyond state government, Pennsylvania Competes will continue to work toward passage of the PA Fairness Act.
Nearly 1,000 employers in Pennsylvania have signed on in support of the PA Fairness Act, agreeing that a statewide nondiscrimination law that includes LGBT individuals will foster a workplace that is welcoming to all people and better able to attract the highly skilled millennial workforce.
Current state law allows Pennsylvanians to be fired or denied housing and business services solely on the basis of the person being gay or transgender.
The PA Fairness Act will update the Human Relations Act – originally written in 1955 – to ensure that all citizens regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, age, sex, national origin, disability, and – with passage of the Fairness Act – sexual orientation and gender identity and expression – can participate in the state’s economy.
Visit www.pacompetes.org to learn about the Pennsylvania Fairness Act and the bipartisan coalition of legislators and municipal officials, business and academic leaders and non-profit organizations who support a Pennsylvania free from discrimination.
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Their statement reads, in part:
PCAR supports the call for statewide anti-discrimination measures. LGBT people are at increased risk for experiencing sexual violence, in part because of discriminatory practices in local, state and federal arenas. This policy action is one way that we can build a safer, more affirming environment for people who identity as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.
PCAR goes on to draw comparisons between the new anti-LGBT effort in Pennsylvania and the recent discriminatory HB2 law passed in North Carolina—now regarded as one of the worst anti-LGBT laws in the country. The North Carolina law, much like the new rhetoric spouted by opponents in Pennsylvania, demonizes transgender people, using unfounded “bathroom panic” to incite fear.
These fears, PCAR assures, have no basis in truth. In the 17 states and 200+ municipalities with LGBT nondiscrimination laws on the books, there have been zero reported cases of harassment. Meanwhile, transgender people “are at increased risk for experiencing physical, sexual and verbal assault in public restrooms (FORGE, 2015). This is especially true when their rights are not protected by law.”
You can read more about PCAR’s support for the Pennsylvania Fairness Act as they debunk lies from anti-LGBT opponents here.
CLICK HERE to urge your lawmakers to reject the harmful lies of our opposition and stand with the majority of Pennsylvanians—and more than 1,000 businesses—calling for immediate passage of the Pennsylvania Fairness Act.
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The anti-LGBT group, self-titled Defend My Privacy, is employing deceitful and baseless “bathroom” scare tactics in efforts to deter lawmakers from bringing critical and popular civil rights legislation to a vote.
Today, Pennsylvania Competes issued a statement to address the insurgency for what it really is—nothing more than a smear campaign aimed at ensuring discrimination against gay and transgender Pennsylvanians remains legal in the Keystone State. Our own Field Director, Sam Gehler, said, “The rhetoric this dark money group has brought to Pennsylvania is 100 percent inaccurate and destructive to the mission of ending discrimination in this state.”
In reality, the Pennsylvania Fairness Act is pro-business legislation that will build the state’s reputation as inclusive and open for business to all. Non-discrimination protections are proven to help attract top talent and new investments to local economies, thereby generating new jobs and long-term sustainable economic growth.
Pennsylvania taxpayers and employers understand the value – and the moral obligation – to treat all human beings fairly.
That’s why the Pennsylvania Fairness Act already has the backing of more than 1,000 businesses and counting. Whereas, for states across the country that have introduced and/or passed anti-LGBT legislation—including North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia—national corporate backlash has been swift and severe, culminating in ruinous economic sanctions and divestments.
In addition to the support of 1,000+ businesses, the Pennsylvania Fairness Act has been endorsed by 9 prominent universities and colleges, and a 22-person bipartisan Mayors Coalition a Competitive Pennsylvania. Moreover, it’s widely popular with a supermajority 74% of Pennsylvanians. Gehler emphasized, “Pennsylvania taxpayers and employers understand the value – and the moral obligation – to treat all human beings fairly.”
Pennsylvania lawmakers should learn from the mistakes of our southern neighbors and avoid the economically treacherous mistake of bowing to fearmongering and deceitful lies of extreme anti-LGBT factions. Instead, they should align themselves with 1,000+ businesses and a strong, bi-partisan majority of their constituents and lead the nation by example by bringing the Pennsylvania Fairness Act to vote.
]]>By Marc Levy
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A fiery public debate is flaring in the state over long-stalled legislation designed to outlaw discrimination based on someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Anti-sexual assault activists and the business community are lining up with gay rights activists against a social conservative organization over the legislation, which is bottled up in Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature.
The debate is happening just days after lawmakers in North Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi passed legislation that critics say would permit discrimination against people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has tried to raise the profile of the issue in Pennsylvania, in light of a backlash against North Carolina, and has urged Republicans to allow a vote on it. He suggested that giving protection against discrimination for the gay and transgender community is the evolution of a civil rights movement that banned discrimination because of race.
“We shouldn’t be discriminating on this basis either,” Wolf told a KQV-AM radio interviewer last week. “I think that’s an appropriate thing for a government to say: ‘We have ground rules here.'”
Identical House and Senate bills long languishing in committee would add categories – sexual orientation, gender identity or expression – to a law that empowers the state Human Relations Commission to investigate complaints of discrimination in employment, housing and public services because of someone’s race, sex, religion, age or disability. The commission can impose civil penalties, such as back pay or damages.
In recent days, an organization called Defend My Privacy, backed by the socially conservative Pennsylvania Family Institute, put up a website and Harrisburg-area highway billboards attacking the legislation, calling them “Bathroom Bills.” It also set up a booth at last weekend’s Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, a prominent gathering of conservatives that hosted GOP presidential candidates Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, and John Kasich, Ohio’s governor. It said the bills would spur lawsuits to abolish gender-specific bathrooms and locker rooms in schools and public places and would lead to sexual assaults in public restrooms. The Pennsylvania Family Institute’s president, Michael Geer, said such laws also would infringe on rights of conscience by exposing business owners and service providers to government prosecution or lawsuits.
The attack echoes the approach taken by opponents in other states. More than 20 states have anti-discrimination laws for the gay and transgender community, as do cities including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The bills’ proponents said there simply is no history of those patterns.
“This is really a red herring to scare people, and the organizations and advocates who know best don’t believe there’s a problem,” said Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, the lead sponsor of the House measure.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Competes, a business advocacy group backed by The Hershey Co., GlaxoSmithKline and others, called Defend My Privacy a “shadow group” and said it should take down the “inaccurate, fear-based misinformation.”
It is “100 percent inaccurate and destructive to the mission of ending discrimination in this state,” Pennsylvania Competes said.
The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape said “fear-mongering tactics about risk of sexual violence” is used to help raise support for discriminatory legislation like North Carolina’s. Rather, it said, research shows that states, cities and schools that have given transgender people the right to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify report no increase in assaults in bathrooms.
Senate State Government Committee Chairman Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon, said he has been hearing from various groups about the bill and wants to vet it before possibly holding a vote. “I just want to make sure that we’re not going to be violating anybody’s religious liberties or their freedom of conscience,” Folmer said.
]]>“Pennsylvania Competes calls on the shadow group, Defend My Privacy, to acknowledge their political agenda and put an end to the misinformation they are presenting.
“The group selected last weekend’s political meeting, featuring two presidential candidates, to present inaccurate, fear-based, misinformation against the Pennsylvania Fairness Act. The rhetoric this dark money group has brought to Pennsylvania is 100 percent inaccurate and destructive to the mission of ending discrimination in this state.
“In an attempt to intimidate legislators and mislead the public into opposing Pennsylvania’s nondiscrimination bill, the group is promoting incorrect information about the Pennsylvania Fairness Act. In fact, the Fairness Act addresses discrimination in the workplace, accommodations and business services and will offer necessary protections to vulnerable Pennsylvanians.
“Nearly 1,000 Pennsylvania employers, academic institutions including Penn State University, non-profit organizations and a bi-partisan coalition of state legislators and mayors understand the economic impact at stake in Pennsylvania and support the Pennsylvania Fairness Act.
“The business case for fairness is clear. An inclusive Pennsylvania is a more economically vibrant Pennsylvania. The Fairness Act will help Pennsylvania attract a talented workforce and will make Pennsylvania a location of choice for entrepreneurs and companies to locate and expand their businesses and the jobs that come with them.
“We saw the economic impact first-hand in other states like Indiana, Georgia and North Carolina where major employers halted jobs projects or million-dollar tourism events were threatened. Pennsylvania taxpayers and employers understand the value – and the moral obligation – to treat all human beings fairly. They realize the significant economic impact at stake and will not be swayed by an effort to support discrimination by resorting to fear-based, misleading and incorrect information.
“Also of note, the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape issued a press release in support of the Pennsylvania Fairness Act and cited compelling data about linkages to the increased risk of sexual violence faced by LGBT individuals in jurisdictions without proper protections from discrimination.”
The PA Fairness Act will update the Human Relations Act – originally written in 1955 – to ensure that all citizens regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, age, sex, national origin, disability, and – with passage of the Fairness Act – sexual orientation and gender identity and expression – can participate in the state’s economy. Current state law allows Pennsylvanians to be fired or denied housing and business services solely on the basis of the person being gay or transgender.
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Editor’s note: Link here to the press release issued by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.
Contact: Lynn Lawson
]]>Opponents of the Pennsylvania Fairness Act just launched a new website. It might look nice, but don’t be fooled—its only purpose is to hurt LGBT Pennsylvanians and deceitfully reduce the movement for comprehensive non-discrimination to tired and baseless “bathroom” scare tactics.
We’ve been working for over YEAR to build strong bipartisan support for the Pennsylvania Fairness Act, legislation to extend non-discrimination protections to LGBT people. And we can tell you—this is about MUCH more than just bathrooms.
This is about housing and employment; it’s about being able to see a doctor without getting kicked out of the office. It’s about strengthening our state’s economy by protecting everyone from discrimination.
We can’t let these heinous lies go unchecked. Pitch in $6 right now to help us run the campaign we need to defeat anti-LGBT forces and secure LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination across the Keystone State.
The Pennsylvania Fairness Act is pro-business legislation aimed at strengthening Pennsylvania’s economy—that’s why it already has the backing of 1,000+ businesses from across the state. This bill means more jobs and more revenue for Pennsylvania.
Our opponents on the other hand? They’re pushing the same anti-LGBT agenda that has inflicted millions of dollars of damage on state economies across the country.
These pathetic groups are calling the Pennsylvania Fairness Act “Governor Tom Wolf’s bill.” But just take a look at the facts and you’ll see this isn’t “Governor Wolf’s bill” at all. The Pennsylvania Fairness Act is backed by 1,000 businesses, 22 Mayors and 9 colleges and universities. It’s supported by a bipartisan majority of Pennsylvanians.
The Pennsylvania Fairness Act is a bill that affirms Pennsylvania values. And we can’t—and we won’t—let the lies by a few extremists derail the undeniable momentum this campaign has built statewide.
We have to fight back, Claire. Pitch in $6 now and every dollar will help squash these radical lies and ensure lawmakers know the truth about the Pennsylvania Fairness Act.
Our opponents wouldn’t be ramping up their efforts if they didn’t know that we have a true path to victory. Let’s show them that we’re just getting started.