A bill to broaden protections for LGBTQ+ people passed the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives on Tuesday - the first to advance this far after yearslong efforts by Democrats - though it faces strong headwinds in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The bill passed 102-98 in the House where Democrats have a razor-thin majority, becoming the first of its kind to see a floor vote. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said he supports it.

Similar legislation - long supported by LGBTQ+ advocates, and even a priority of former Gov. Tom Wolf - has failed to get a floor vote in either chamber, despite clearing committee years ago.

Under the bill, it would be illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people in housing, workplaces and public services.

The legislation would add the categories "sexual orientation, gender identity or expression" to a law that empowers the state Human Relations Commission to investigate complaints of discrimination because of someone's race, sex, religion, age or disability. The commission can impose civil penalties, such as back pay or damages.

A rainbow crosswalk serves as a symbol of safety — as well as pride, support and inclusivity — for the LGBTQ+ community.

This was the message Monday night, as Doylestown Borough council members voted unanimously in favor of adding a decorative rainbow crosswalk on Printer’s Alley at East State Street, but not before hearing from more than two dozen members of the public speaking out in support of and against the proposal.

Council member Ben Bell said the Doylestown Pride Festival requested the crosswalk in the area of its annual block party on East State Street. It will be installed before the festival.

The rainbow crosswalk, which will be installed permanently on Printer’s Alley between Evolution Candy and the former Zen Den building, will be the first of its kind in Bucks County, according to the Doylestown Pride Festival.

“We’re beyond proud to celebrate the many diverse identities within our community and as we enter our fourth year, we hope this will serve as a wonderful year-round reminder that Doylestown embraces and uplifts the LGBTQ+ community from across the region,” said Kris Boger, president of Discover Doylestown and chair of the festival.

Marlene Pray, a member of the festival and director of The Rainbow Room, called the crosswalk "a symbol of welcome and safety and support," which sends a message to kids "they are loved, that they matter, that they are valued and that they will be supported.”

Opponents to the proposal expressed concerns, including pedestrian safety, religious beliefs and aesthetics.

Pray called out those who spoke against the crosswalk, questioning their reasons.

“It is amazing all of the excuses some people will use to hide their bigotry and hide their intolerance, and I don’t mean just in this room, but in our community and in our country,” she said.

But for everyone who dissented, there were just as many voicing support for the crosswalk, as a means for embracing the LGBTQ+ community.

Installation and ongoing maintenance costs will be covered by the Doylestown Pride Festival.

Right-wing parents wanted to show a film suggesting public school teachers teach kids “X-rated sex acts.”

Colorful flyers with a dark underlying message began showing up in Bucks County mailboxes immediately after the midterm election.

“Whose Children Are They?” asks the leaflet while extending an invitation to a Newtown eatery for drinks, dinner and the showing of a film – claiming to be a documentary – that equates the U.S. public education system with Marxism and asks why educators are encouraging racism, sexual promiscuity, perversion and Communism in the classroom. It checks all the boxes of right-wing conspiracies or lies that if you follow Bucks County’s school board wars you hear religiously regurgitated at monthly meetings.

However, the Newtown community wasn’t having it.

“This morning my inbox was full of concerned Newtown residents’ horror over the upcoming showing of this hateful movie. Many of them were Council Rock teachers who took it personally,” Newtown Township Supervisor Elen Snyder said. “They were appalled that it would be shown in a popular Newtown business.”

Snyder began to make inquiries on behalf of her constituents. “I had constant contact with the Peace Center representative Barbara Simmons and the Human Relations Commission representatives from the township and the borough,” she said

Ultimately, the owner of the restaurant canceled the event.

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The Rainbow Room, a safe haven for LGBTQ+ children and teens, received a substantial financial contribution on Friday (October 21, 2022) that will expand its presence within the county and secure its future.

State Senator Steve Santarsiero announced $630,000 in state funding during a press conference held in front of Salem United Church of Christ, the home of the Rainbow Room on East Court Street. The state funds will be used to support the current Rainbow Room and establish a second, yet to be determined location in Lower Bucks County, he said.

“The Rainbow Room has been an important part of the Bucks County LGBTQ+ community for 20 years, and this investment will ensure the future of The Rainbow Room is robust and bright,” said Sen. Santarsiero. “I have seen first-hand the immense benefit The Rainbow Room offers LBGTQ+ youth and their families in Bucks County. At a time in their lives with so much pressure and scrutiny, The Rainbow Room provides a safe and nurturing space for these young people to find community, education, and empowerment.”

"We are here for the youth," said Marlene Pray, Rainbow Room founder and regional director of LGBTQ+ youth education. "We know there's been an escalation in cruelty and attacks and bigotry directed toward queer youth. Planned Parenthood will never stop standing with young people and will never stop fighting for their lives, their dignity and their rights."

After word got around that Bucks County Community College would be hosting a talk by a “practicing homosexual” on May 9, 1968, the school’s president, Charles E. Rollins, received 100 complaints and decided to cancel the engagement three hours before it was to start.

As many as 200 students promptly held a demonstration that made headlines in college and local newspapers. They also made history a full year before the Stonewall riots launched the modern LGBTQ rights movement and eclipsed most of the pathbreaking events and organizations that preceded it.

Named for a mob-owned Greenwich Village bar that was frequently raided by police, the Stonewall uprising — with two fabulously fierce transgender women of color named Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson as key players — began on June 28, 1969, and continued for six days. StonewalI energized, focused, and intensified the movement and ultimately gave birth to Pride Month.

“High-profile protests like Stonewall don’t come out of nowhere,” said the historian and author Marc Stein, who brought the forgotten Bucks County incident to light with the help of Monica Kuna, director of library services at the college in Newtown, Pa.

Lesbians, gay men, and transgender people “had been swept under the rug, but by the late Sixties the issue was coming in to the public consciousness,” said Daniel Brooks, the founder of New Hope Celebrates, an organization that promotes LGBTQ businesses as well as Pride Month activities in and around New Hope. The artsy tourist destination, located 10 miles north of Newtown, has long had a vibrant gay presence. Brooks also heads up the New Hope Celebrates History project, which is raising money for a documentary film that will tell the story of the local LGBTQ community.

As the 52nd anniversary of the Stonewall riots approach, it’s important the Bucks County event be remembered, said Bob Skiba, the curator of collections in the LGBTQ archives at the William Way center in Philadelphia, “because it ties what was going on in gay activism in 1968 with what was going on with antiwar, civil rights, and feminist activism” on and off campus across the country.

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[UPDATE: The resolution failed to pass by a 3-2 vote margin at the February 29, 2020, Newtown Board of Supervisors meeting.]

Stressing that all people deserve equal care and treatment regardless of sexual orientation or gender identification, a resolution being considered by the Newtown Township supervisors would make Feb. 15 “Love is Love Day” in the township.

The document drafted by Supervisor John Mack is modeled after one pushed by state Sen. Steve Santarsiero, D-10, of Lower Makefield and state Rep. Wendy Ullman, D-143, of Plumstead, that failed to reach the floor in Harrisburg after not receiving unanimous support from Republicans.

The Newtown Township board discussed the resolution at its Wednesday meeting and seemed generally supportive, but voted 4-1 to table the matter until Feb. 26 so that exact wording and other elements could get more study.

Mack saw no reason to delay voting on the resolution and was the lone no vote on the table motion.

“Valentine’s Day receives much media attention with couples and loved ones proclaiming their love for each other,” his draft resolution states. “Those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, asexual and other sexual minorities are often excluded from Valentine’s Day mainstream media coverage.

“Being an adolescent during a time when those around you are expressing their love for each other can be overwhelming, especially if you do not see examples you identify with.”

The resolution states that Newtown Township was the first township in Bucks County to pass an anti-discrimination ordinance that created a Human Relations Commission to protect the rights of all citizens regardless of sexual orientation or perceived gender.

The rate of suicide among LGBTQ+ teenagers is nearly four times higher than for their heterosexual peers, according to the resolution. “Accepting the LGBTQ+ youth in our communities and in society at large helps remind those who we care about that love is love regardless of how they identify,” it adds.

The Newtown Township Human Relations Commission (NTHRC), which was established by the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors on November 28, 2018, met for the first time at a public meeting on Wednesday, March 20, 2019. The purpose of this meeting was to elect a chair, vice chair, secretary, and appoint non-voting members as well as to get input from the public, and prepare for the next steps, which includes training by the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission (PHRC).

Learn more about the NTHRC members and the NT Anti-Discrimination Ordinance here: http://bit.ly/NTHRC-Patch

Supervisors approved an ordinance Wednesday evening establishing a new Human Relations commission, which can review and answer complaints from residents alleging discrimination based on “actual or perceived” qualities not covered under federal or state law.

Newtown Township has joined Yardley and Hatboro in establishing anti-discrimination protections for its residents this year.

The board voted 4-0, with Supervisor Kyle Davis absent, to approve an ordinance forming a three- to five-member Human Relations commission, tasked with reviewing complaints from residents alleging discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations or access to educational institutions.

The measure is intended to safeguard against unequal treatment based on an individual’s “actual or perceived” race, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability.

After receiving a complaint, the commission can facilitate fact-finding conferences with parties in a dispute, conduct investigations and potentially hold public hearings where the parties can provide testimony. Members could then decide whether to issue a cease-and-desist order or take “additional action” as deemed appropriate.

Supervisor John Mack first floated the idea for the ordinance in July, and in September, the board heard a presentation from Yardley Councilman David Bria, who led the charge on Yardley’s anti-discrimination ordinance earlier this year.

Sexual orientation and gender identity are not spelled out as protected under federal or state law, leaving appellate courts in various districts to decide differently as to whether any protections exist at all, Bria said.

With supervisors’ approval Wednesday evening, Newtown Township has become Bucks County’s first township to pass an anti-discrimination ordinance. Between 2002 and 2013, officials approved similar ordinances in New Hope, Doylestown Borough, Newtown Borough and Bristol Borough, with Yardley and Hatboro joining in in March and May, respectively. All are boroughs compared to a township.

Newtown Township’s vote also expands the number of county residents living in municipalities with anti-discrimination protections in place, on account of its size compared to the six boroughs.

Before Wednesday evening, 32,676 residents of those boroughs, or 5.2 percent of Bucks County’s 625,249 residents, lived in protected municipalities. Now, factoring in Newtown Township’s 19,299 residents, 51,975 residents, or 8.3 percent, are covered, according to census data.

Related:

• Podcast: Dave Bria Talks About Anti-discrimination Ordinances
• Video: Dave Bria Presents Case for Anti-Discrimination Ordinance