Gay Rights Advocates Say Work Is Not Done Despite Legalization Of Same Sex Marriage In PA
By Cherri Gregg
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Now that same sex marriage is a reality in Pennsylvania, LGBT advocates says they will now focus their efforts on gaining civil rights protection.
While same sex couples can now marry in Pennsylvania -- Civil Rights attorney Angela Giampolo of Giampolo Law Group says the win is bitter sweet.
"You can be fired for being gay, you can be denied public accommodation -- and a lot of people even LGBT people don't know that," she says.
Giampolo says many municipalities, like Philadelphia, have passed anti-discrimination laws that protect the LGBT community, there are nearly two dozen counties where there's no protection whatsoever. HB and SB 300 would change that.
"It would end discrimination in Pennsylvania in the workplace, in housing and in public accommodation based on really who you love," says Senator Lawrence Farnese (D-Philadelphia).
Governor Tom Corbett said publicly last year that he would support it, yet the law has stalled. Farnese blames partisan rancor in the Pennsylvania House.
"We're sure we have the votes to move the bill out in the Senate," says Farnese, "our concern in the house, but the chairman of the State Government Committee Representative Metcalfe has said he will not move the bill based on his ideological problems with the LGBT community."
State Representative Darly Metcalfe (R- Bulter) could not be immediately reached for comment. Click here for more information on House Bill 300: