It is Freedom to Marry week and nearly 30 people showed in Harrisburg in support of SB 935 which would legalize same sex marriage in Pennsylvania. 30 is pretty impressive considering the weather.
Ha.
Sponsor Daylin Leach:
Now this legislation has 3 cosponsors. 3.
I am not a proponent of pushing for marriage equality in Pennsylvania. That doesn't make me an incrementalist because I do believe SW PA Democrats are ridiculous panderers to fear mongering bigots when it comes to civil rights for the LGBTQ community. Granting domestic partner benefits is about fairness and equality. I'm realistic enough to know that marriage legislation ignites the bigotry and sends quasi-Democrats even further away from their values (or closer to their real values?). Hence, the lack of domestic partner benefits. Fear. Caving into bigotry. Missing the point.
Still, I applaud 30 people for turning out on a miserable day to stand up for equality.
************************************************
For 18+ years, snowflakes, social justice warriors, and the politically correct have built this blog. Follow us on Twitter @Pghlesbian24
We need your ongoing support to maintain this archive and continue the work. Please consider becoming a patron of this blog with a recurring monthly donation or make a one-time donation.
Venmo @PghLesbian CashApp $PghLesbian
This post and/or others may contain affiliate links. Your purchase through these links support our work. You are under no obligation to make a purchase.
We had 46 people setup for appointments with both their representative and senator, so that's 92 appointments. Many of the people shared legislators so we had meetings with 35 different legislators. Of the 46 people, we lost about 16 due to really bad snow, however, we managed to get at least one constituent into the offices of about 32 legislators. There were about 8 of those legislators that failed to keep their meetings so the constituents met with staff instead.
I counted about 50 people on the steps in the Capitol Rotunda during the press conference. There were other's there that were not on the steps. People came for lobbying, but didn't stay for the press conference, and people came for the march & rally but missed the press conference. Total proponents was probably about 75. 3000 postcards in support of SB 935 signed from constituents were given to their legislators. Due to an email and calling request organized through various organizations, thousands of phone calls and emails were logged in support of sb935 and/or opposed to sb707.
New legislators are voting for equality. At least two senators will change their vote since recent sessions toward equality, and at least one other will be less eager to amend the constitution to define marriage as one man and one woman. So we did make concrete progress.
There was no representation from Pittsburg, although we did have representation from the far east side of the commonwealth.
Details can be seen on FreedomToMarryPA.org. From the main page, in the Feb 8th box, click “Meet Your State Legislators”.
Bolton Winpenny
Harrisburg Representative, PA Diversity Network
Communications Director, Interfaith Alliance of PA
Member, Freedom To Marry PA Steering Committee