|
Becomes the 28th U.S. State to Include Sexual Orientation Is the Fifth American State to Protect the Transgendered Human Rights Campaign
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-- The Pennsylvania Legislature passed a bill last Tuesday in the House of Representatives and, by a vote of 118 to 79, extended the state's hate crime laws to include actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, mental and physical disability, and ancestry.
With the governor's signature, Pennsylvania will become the 28th state with a hate crimes law including sexual orientation. It will also become the fifth state, as well as the District of Columbia, to include gender identity in its hate crimes statute. "The Pennsylvania Legislature has sent a strong message to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Pennsylvanians that bias crime will not be tolerated," said Seth Kilbourn, national field director for the Human Rights Campaign. "The passage of this bill is an example of what a strong coalition with a coordinated strategy and an effective grassroots network can accomplish." Statewide Pennsylvania Rights Coalition (SPARC), Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, Pennsylvania Gender Rights Coalition and Pennsylvania Gay and Lesbian Alliance lead the coalition to pass House Bill 1439. HRC supported their efforts along with OUTFRONT, PFLAG, the Log Cabin Republicans of Pennsylvania and a wide variety of community groups from across the state. "The lesson to be learned from this success in Pennsylvania is that no one has to sacrifice their integrity in an effort to pass inclusive legislation. In a state which mirrors the conservative and rural nature of many states, we built a coalition of groups and individuals, including national groups like the Human Rights Campaign, which was able to educate elected officials on the importance of passing a bill that benefits all of the citizens of Pennsylvania," says Stephen Glassman, co-chair of SPARC and the first openly gay member of the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission. The coalition leading the effort to pass the bill was the recipient of $10,000 in Equality Fund grants from HRC. The Equality Fund assists statewide GLBT organizations in undertaking legislative initiatives at the state level. SPARC used its grant money in part to hire a professional lobbyist to educate members of the Legislature on the hate crimes bill. "The people of Pennsylvania don't believe in hate. With the help of a fully committed coalition that included HRC, we were able to convince the state Legislature of the need to protect transgender, as well as lesbian, gay and bisexual people. This is especially gratifying since it comes two days before the official Transgender Day of Remembrance," says Mara Keisling, co-chair of Pennsylvania Gender Rights Coalition.
To aid passage of the bill, Michael Crawford, HRC's Eastern field organizer, conducted a training to prepare advocates to lobby their state legislators. In addition, HRC members in Pennsylvania sent hundreds of faxes to their legislators through the HRC online Action Center. HRC's Philadelphia steering committee also collected more than 2,000 letters from Pennsylvania residents to educate their legislators on the need for hate crimes protections. Recently released statistics from the FBI show that hate incidents based on sexual orientation have increased from 1,299 incidents in 2000 to 1,393 in 2001 -- a 7.2 percent increase. Reported hate crimes based on sexual orientation have more than tripled since the FBI began keeping statistics in 1991. |
|
Republican Gov. Mark Schweiker said he will sign the hate crime act