Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta to become first openly gay chair of Pa. House Equality Caucus

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Philadelphia Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta will soon become the first openly gay chair of the Pennsylvania House LGBTQ Equality Caucus. The co-chair: Rep. Jessica Benham from Pittsburgh.

Current leader Rep. Dan Frankel is not a member of the LGBTQ community but formed the caucus back in 2010. 

"I did not have members who identified as LGBTQ in our caucus at that time," Frankel said

Kenyatta said there's now five openly LGBTQ members from Philadelphia and the suburbs and from Allegheny County. Kenyatta says Frankel and others have been great allies. So why the change?

"When you have members of the General Assembly who identify as LGBTQ talking to other members, it is really compelling," Frankel said.

"I told my coming out story on the on the House floor, the first time I'd ever done that in a public forum," Kenyatta said. 

All 65 members of the house LGBTQ Equality Caucus are Democrats. But both Frankel and Kenyatta noted a number of Republicans did vote with them in favor of an anti-discrimination law, which nonetheless fell a few votes shy of passing.