Tag Archives: Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh Mayor Signs “Mayors for Marriage Equality” Pledge of Support

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has evolved in his understanding of the LGBT community and has now embraced marriage equality. He affirmed this by signing the Mayors for the Freedom to Marry pledge.

Mr. Ravenstahl said he made up his mind after speaking with gay friends and staff, as well as members of his LGBT task force.

“My mind has changed. My heart has changed. I thought it was important to express that,” he said.

He said President Barack Obama’s support of gay marriage was one of the reasons he decided to express public support for gay marriage.

“I felt it was important for me to express what my personal belief was,” he said.

He said he expects some constituents to be upset with his support, but said he doesn’t make decisions based on whether people agree or disagree with him.

While in office, Ravenstahl has established an LGBT Advisory Committee and supported Pridefest each year. He hasn’t had an opportunity to cast a vote on LGBT issues.

Fortunately, the Mayor will have opportunities to roll up his sleeves and get to work on marriage related issues.

Advocating for statewide efforts to recognize our rights and extend equality.

Establishing a “tax offset” for City employees receiving domestic partner benefits.

Working with the firefighters and paramedic unions to offer domestic partner benefits to their members (City residents.)

Ravenstahl joins 10 Pennsylvania Mayors who have signed the pledge – Libby White of Doylestown, Salvatore Panto of Easton, Dennis O’Brien of Newtown, Tim McGuide of Homewood Borough, William McCall of Parker, J. Richard Gray of Lancaster, Adam Forgie of Turtle Creek, John Fetterman of Braddock, John Callahan of Bethlehem, and Michael Nutter of Philadelphia.

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Letter to The Editor: Post-Gazette – Marriage Equality

You know, its been awhile since I posted a letter to the editor – that’s partially due to the major fail on the part of the search engines for the Trib and the Post-Gazette.

Brandon Mitchell of Greenfield shares his optimism in response to President Obama’s affirmation of marriage equality.

I cannot express the feelings of fulfillment that I was granted when President Barack Obama announced his view for same-sex marriage (“Officials Differ on Pa. Effect of Obama Gay Marriage Endorsement,” May 10). It is an extreme jump forward as he is the first president in the history of our nation to openly endorse same-sex marriage.

This is a huge accomplishment for the LGBT community, which I am a part of. I would love for nothing more than to one day be able to marry and watch my fellow LGBT members recognized with their significant others as “married.” Even the statistics in this article prove that we are moving toward this. For example, in 2009, 50 percent of people surveyed were for same-sex marriage.

The goal in the end, however, is to get noticed not just in states but on the federal level for marriage equality. As the Human Rights Campaign states in an article titled “An Overview of Federal Rights and Protections Granted to Married Couples,” “there are 1,138 benefits, rights and protections provided on the basis of marital status in federal law.” This article, at www.hrc.org, goes in-depth about everything you get through a marital status, which is still defined as one man and one woman.

This means even if each state were to pass the acceptance of same-sex marriage, the true fight is for federal status. So hopefully in years to come, with youth and government, there will be no more discrimination.

I love when people take time to populate the letters to the editor page even if they are relegated to the print edition. Brandon did his homework to demonstrate that his sentiment is shared by many, many if not most Americans. He also wisely has faith in the inevitable march of time and tolerance.

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Being an Advocate: 7th Annual Blogging for LGBT Families

I was mulling over my contribution to this year’s day dedicated to blog posts about LGBTQ families and I kept coming back to the recent chart in The Guardian which showed that LGBTQ people and families in Pennsylvania have no rights. It bothers me that so many people don’t know or accept this information because it leaves them vulnerable to personal and community attacks.

Let me start by reminding you that I do not have children. Ledcat and I decided not to go that route in life. We do have 4 nieces and nephews (2 each) who are both being raised in two-parent heterosexual households. But we are most definitely a family and invested in the welfare of all families. That’s one reason we both devote time to a social service project supporting Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. But I digress.

It is not that things are sooo bad in Pennsylvania, but that sooo many turn a blind eye or fail to heed the call to get involved. Often, that’s because they are busy parenting, of course.

Here’s the breakdown.

From The Guardian

Pennsylvania does NOT have statewide protections for our jobs or our housing (or public swimming pools), does not have a hate crimes law, does not have civil unions or marriage equality (we do have a DOMA), no rights to hospital visits or decisions, no bullying protections in the schools and no legislative protections for adoption.

Pennsylvania DOES have a court victory validating second-parent adoption for same sex couples, does have over 27 municipal ordinances extending non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ folks, does have success in keeping a marriage amendment at bay and has over 12 pieces of active legislation addressing these and other rights and protections for the community.

What’s haunted me is a recent experience at an adoption for a same sex family. The little one has been with them since birth and there was no contesting or anything like that. Still, the judge had some concerns about things like the child’s last name and being raised as a vegetarian. And it dawned on me as I listened to the language about “waiving” the statutory requirement of marriage that he had the power to say “no.” To just stop the proceeding and force an appeal based simply on the fact that the baby’s last name was not the same as either parent (they joined them and he has an older brother with that name.)

Now, he didn’t. He approved the adoption, waived the regulations and approved the second parent’s adoption. Then he let the older child bang his gavel and took photos. But wow … what an eye opening moment.

Advocacy is everyone’s responsibility. It matters to the entire community that this adoption wasn’t legislatively guaranteed. It matters that the fate of a family rests in the hands of a judge. Because the same thing is true when individuals go before the courts on anything related to the fact that they are LGBTQ. Or not related, but that’s introduced. And we aren’t going to make the sort of changes truly necessary until we have a statewide victory.

In Pennsylvania, there are various ways to get informed and connected – Steel City Stonewall Democrats, Equality PA, blogs, social media, etc. There’s no lack of information or opportunity get involved by contacting your state representative or senator. Here’s a rundown of 10 pieces of legislation and another bill about inheritance taxes. You’ll have to read about them and do some clicking. But you can weigh in. The General Assembly is in session to November 30, 2012 so you can have an impact.

I realize that making time to attend meetings and become an advocate does take time away from your family, requires a lot of juggling and seem lower on the priority list. But it is so critical that our elected officials hear from parents – many of them are parents and when you talk about things that happen in school or at Little League or having to explain bigotry to a 5 years old, it is going to resonate. Your voices are essential, your experiences are a key element to changing hearts.

Living your lives as an LGBTQ family is a political act. And the fact that discrimination doesn’t touch your family very often is a wonderful testimony to the true hearts of our neighbors in Pennsylvania. They may be afraid of the big scary “gay” demons, but they have no problem at all embracing your family. Not everyone is so fortunate, but the truth is that to make change in Pennsylvania we are going to have to convince those people – those who embrace you – to take action, too.

Now to be fair, there are things orgs and groups could do to help – offering child care, scheduling when its easier for parents to attend, using more online communication and social media tools, and so forth.

I’m focusing on families today because that’s the point of the blogswarm. It is really important to share factual information when someone asks you for a lawyer’s name to explore adoption. It is important that you understand your child’s rights (of lack of rights) when they are in a school setting. It is important that you know what to expect from the police if you or your family experience a hate crime.

Being informed is the best tool to protect all of our families. Follow this link to read other posts contributing to the 7th Annual Blogging for LGBT Families effort.

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Western PA Bloggers Team Up To Promote LGBT Equality

My colleague Tom Waters drafted this explanation of a joint initiative we are launching …

Two prominent western PA bloggers are joining forces to host a first ever LGBTQA bloggers and social media summit. Sue Kerr, primary blogger at Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents and Thomas C Waters of thomascwaters.com are planning a get together that they hope will be informative, interesting and meaningful for gay, lesbian, bi, trans, queer and allied friends who are active in any aspects of social media. The preliminary work on an agenda is done, and the next phase is to find a date that may help attract the most participants. A survey is posted here to gather ideas about date and time.

Some might say that the rise of microblogging, has meant that the blog is dead, but Kerr and Waters feel the exact

Then Governor Ed Rendell kicks off Pride March June 2006

opposite is true. There is greater need today for thorough and meaningful reporting via blog and spread throughout by social media. There is a role to be played everywhere on Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook, Google +, as well as other social media tools and platforms. These two hope to encourage more people who are working within any of these medias to communicate, work together, and increase our presence through LGBTQA voices.

“I want to cast a wide net” explains Kerr “and bring people together who may not be aware of each other so we can amplify the message.” Waters adds, ” there are as many viewpoints as their are LGBTQA persons and by inviting lots of dialogue, more diverse opinions and ideas will get shared and understood.” too often the mainstream media reduces LGBTQ stories to quick sound items, and our roles can be to help provide more complete, stories with depth and meaning.

A “summit” may sound a bit intimidating, but it isn’t meant to be. Rather, this isn’t just getting together for coffee and chitchat. Our goal is to start a process where individuals who often work in isolation, now feel they have a network or more support, ad as a group, we own the role we can play in communication and activism.

For more information, use the survey, or contact Sue Kerr or Thomas Waters

I want to add a personal bit.

I do think people are likely to wonder why Tom and I are teaming up – we don’t often agree. I think however its actually sad that all these years later — 6.5 since I began blogging — there’s just the two of us. And while our disagreements may be public, its easy to overlook that 1) we often have each other’s back and 2) it would be terribly uninteresting if the ONLY TWO LGBT BLOGGERS in Pittsbugh agreed on things all of the time.

And one thing up on which we agree is the need to amplify the voices we know are there … the live journals, the tweets, the tumblrs and the folks diligently working to use social media in their efforts to secure equality for all of us.

Personally, I’m gravely concerned that people misunderstand the status of LGBT rights in Pennsylvania. The fact is that we have not a single statewide right (yes, second parent adoption is permitted, but its not a law.) I’m concerned that so many LGBT persons and our allies misunderstand this reality or misinterpret the impact of federal achievements like executive orders or even federal laws like the Matthew Shepherd Hate Crimes Act. The lack of awareness hurts us and feeds the power of people who hate us.

Yes, hate. They hate what we represent and they will use us as political fodder to advance their own power. You need look no further than Daryl Metcalfe’s latest attack on Planned Parenthood. Or back up to the Voter ID law designed to correct the non-existent problem of voter fraud. Or how about the tightening of SNAP (food stamps) asset tests when again the degree of fraud was miniscule. Clearly – women, marginalized people, poor neighbors are among those under assault.

I included a photo I really enjoy – then Governor Ed Rendell kicking off the Pride march in 2006. That was pretty heady for me. He stood on the platform and used a bullhorn to proudly announce he supported marriage equality. In 2006. In spite of that support and the slim majorities in the Pennsylvania House, we have no rights codified in PA law. That’s not to suggest there hasn’t been progress … I’ve covered that in detail in other posts. But the personal commitment of our leader does not necessarily translate into job protections and housing and safe schools for our community.

I didn’t know Thomas in 2006. Now I do. I didn’t know Rayden and all the others using social media. And now I do. I didn’t have a national platform thru Bilerico. Now I do. But I’ll be honest. Its exhausting writing about this. Its lonely. And I’d love to spend some time with others.

This agenda is not about marriage equality. It is about equality. Marriage is part of that. I throw that out because I want to make sure everyone feels welcome to bring their agenda to the table.

So please take a few moments to complete the survey. We hope to kick off with some sort of meeting in June … casual, not a formal training. To make that happen, we need your input now.

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