Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Pennsylvania pulled off a trifecta in the election – we held onto the Governorship and won both the PA House and PA Senate in the General Assembly. We being Democrats.

The entire election is just mind-blowing, a massive rebuke of the MAGA culture and policies. I’ve been watching podcasts and newscasts all day trying to wrap my mind around it.

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Read our 2024 Political Q&A with State Senator Jay Costa, predicted to be next President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania State Senate

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So let’s start with what we know. These are legislative priorities from the LGBTQ community for Pennsylvania.

Statewide Nondiscrimination Protections

• At the top of the list are statewide nondiscrimination protections. As of right now, about 30% of Pennsylvania residents live or work in communities with protections. The other 70% do not. The General Assembly has made numerous attempts over the years to address this issue, but could not even get out of the House committee until Daryl Metcalfe retired.

• Currently, there are bills in both chambers. We may not see any action before this term ends, but it should be front and center nex t session especially if Jay Costa is the Majority Leader in the Senate.

• It never fails to stun me that people do not KNOW this. They think I’m lying when I lay out the situation, when I explain the legislative history. They are shocked that people can be (and are) fired or lose their housing for being LGBTQ. It makes Pennsylvania seem regressive. It makes Pennsylvania regressive.

Marriage Equality

• Pennsylvania has a so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” on the books. It was invalidated by the Supreme Court decisions, but it was not repeareled. That would require it to be repealed and the General Assembly never prioritized this. The consequence is that if SCOTUS overturns marriage equality, the DOMA would be the law of Pennsylvania.
• The General Assembly needs to repeal DOMA.
• The General Assembly needs to codify marriage equality in Pennsylvania. That’s the win for families in Pennsylvania.
• The General Assembly needs to expand a marriage alternative such as statewide domestic partnerships or even common law marriage with rights to protect both parties. The number of families of all types that are not choosing marriage makes this essential.
• The General Assembly needs to carve protections for couples relying on assets like SSI who cannot marry without losing their benefits.

I feel this very deeply. I hope it is addressed. My marriage failed me. Yours doesn’t have to.

Hate crimes prtections

• The current legislation fails to encompass other critical groups, such as those targeted on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or ancestry.
• Yes, it is not illegal to commit a hate crime against a person based on disability.What a heinous gap in protections for vulnerable neighbors.

Modernizing HIV laws

• We did this!

LGBT panic defense.

• People actually claim they murdered someone when they learn they are gay and/or trans. It is more nuanced legally, but I see this often in my memorialization work – the public has a weird way of sympathizing with someone who was ‘tricked’ or ‘deceived’ by a sexual partner who identifies as gay or trans.
• This tactic is legal in Pennsylvania.

Series of bills to enthusiasticaly protect trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming residents, adults and children. This is not about not simply banning the negative, but creating an affirming, supportive community. These are suggestions from the Movement Advancement Project and the Williams Institute

• Shield and Refuge Laws:
  • Legislation or executive orders that block out-of-state investigations, subpoenas, extradition, or child-removal requests related to legally provided gender-affirming care.
  • Prohibiting local law enforcement from cooperating with hostile out-of-state civil or criminal actions.
• Healthcare Access and Insurance Mandates:
  • Expanding state Medicaid programs and private insurance mandates to explicitly cover medically necessary treatments, including hormone therapy, surgical care, and voice or facial gender-affirming treatments.
  • Preventing state-level restrictions or bans on age-appropriate, best-practice medical care.
• Data and Record Privacy:
  • Restricting the disclosure of medical records, location tracking data, and application data that could expose individuals seeking or providing gender-affirming care to out-of-state entities.
  • Ensuring accurate identity documents (such as birth certificates and driver’s licenses) without mandatory disclosure of sex assigned at birth, though this remains an area of active legal challenge in various states
• Identification and Legal Paperwork
  • Allowing individuals to update the gender marker on their driver’s license or state ID through a simple, self-attested form
  • Providing a third gender designation option—typically “X”—alongside “M” and “F” on state forms and physical IDs.
  • Bundling the legal name change and gender marker update into a single, cohesive administrative path.
  • Sealing past gender marker and legal name change records from public searches.
• Bathroom and Public Facilities Access
  • These protections are usually enshrined by defining “sex discrimination” to include gender identity or expression within state Human Relations Acts, securing access to public accommodations, housing, and workplaces
• Inclusion in sports and activities
  • Codifying statewide inclusion in school and community activities. Explicit, statutorily protected access to sports.

Banning conversion therapy

• While some regulations ban converstion therapy for minors, it is not a law. We need a strong law, especially to protect children from religious predators.

Parentage and Second Parent Adoption

• Second parent adoption was legalized by a court decision in 2004. The state has yet to codify this. Every legal professional in the world will tell you that you need to complete the second parent adoption process to protect your children.
• Parentage is a broad term that descibes the many typs of parent child relationships, a landscape changing regularly with the changes in reproductive technology. Pennsylvania needs to catch up to protect children.

In my opinion, we need to pass statewide nondiscrimination followed immediately by trans affirming legislation. Nondiscrimination laws are a bedrock for other efforts. The trans community has taken so much of the pain and trauma these many recent years.

Really it doesn’t have to be a choice. Legislators have introduced bills around many of these topics – they are prepared. They just need the will to pick up multiple balls.

There is more. Over the past 21 years of blogging, I’ve watched the landscape change dramatically. The Movement Advancement Project has an equality map with lots of detail.

Also, the Pennsylvania Youth Congress has a comprehensive state legislation tracker that’s very useful.