Pennsylvania State Legislature aims to broaden LGBTQ+ protections with House Bill 319
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Two bills are making their way through the Pennsylvania State Legislature involving the LGBTQ community, with two very different perspectives.
In recent polling, 90% of Democrats and 66% of Republicans support extending anti-discrimination laws to the LGBTQ+ community. However, that's still not the case in Pennsylvania - but it could change with a bill that just passed the state House.
"What this bill does is simply enshrine the same non-discrimination protection that people already have on the basis of race or sex to also cover sexuality as well, the LGBTQ+ community," State Rep. Jessica Benham, the co-chair of the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus, said. "So, it doesn't create any new rights or special privileges. It just brings another group of people under the umbrella of those protections."
Benham, who is bisexual, is optimistic the Republican-controlled Senate will act on this bill.
"I would love to live in a state where I am protected from discrimination in housing and employment," Benham said.
While this bill moves in the legislature, other bills on transgender rights in sports, bathroom use, teaching, libraries, and parental rights are being introduced in Pennsylvania, including a stronger version of Florida's "don't say gay" bill that would prohibit discussions of sexuality and gender identity in grades K-5.
"Those are times when kids should be talking about, reading and learning how to write, colors and letters, and stuff like that," State Rep. Aaron Bernstine said. "This is not the time to be talking about sexual-type things with children, specifically without their parental consent."
Bernstine, a cosponsor of House Bill 319 on parental rights in education, said conversations about sexuality belong at home, not schools, and he said these bills are not anti-gay.
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"This isn't a straight or gay, Black or white, or any other type of issue," he said. "This is an issue making sure the most vulnerable citizens are protected from those who may intend to do them harm."
However, what one parent may find offensive in the classroom, others may see as normal.
"You're going to have kids in these classrooms who have two moms or two dads, and if a kid mentions that, I think it's perfectly appropriate for a teacher to say, 'Hey, that's normal,'" Benham said.
If that comment is considered "instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity," then it would be prohibited under this bill.
"Hopefully, these conversations are happening at home but these are not things children should be hearing about," Bernstine said.
So far, there no hearings yet on this bill.
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Pennsylvania is the only state left in the Northeast that does not provide anti-discrimination protection to its LGBTQ+ community.
