Pa. bill would extend antibias law to gays

HARRISBURG - As an education professor, Connie Matthews spent much of her career researching gay and lesbian issues and advocating on behalf of victims of discrimination.

Denied tenure in 2004 despite strong peer reviews after six years at Pennsylvania State University, she believes she was targeted for being openly gay. Matthews sued the university last year, alleging discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation.

Penn State spokeswoman Annemarie Mountz said she could not discuss pending litigation, but noted that the university's nondiscrimination policy included sexual orientation.

Matthews, 54, said she was restricted from seeking government help because Pennsylvania is one of 30 states with no law preventing discrimination against gay and lesbian residents.

Last week, a state House committee approved, 12-11, a bill to change that.

Supporters, all Democrats, praised its passage as the first step toward ending discrimination against gay and transgender people in housing, employment, and public accommodations.

"Every single individual, regardless of his or her sexual orientation, deserves the full rights that come with being a Pennsylvania and U.S. citizen," said Rep. Babette Josephs (D., Phila.), chairwoman of the State Government Committee. "Discrimination should not be an option, period."

The legislation would extend the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act's protections against discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age, gender, national origin, non-job-related disability, or the use of a guide or support animal.

Conservative religious groups, such as the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, oppose the bill, saying it "threatens religious liberty."

"While the Catholic Conference believes every person should be treated with dignity and respect . . . the bill raises civil-liberties issues," spokeswoman Amy Hill said.

For example, she said, it could jeopardize church-affiliated adoption agencies that do not place children with same-sex couples.

Advocates said that the bill would exempt religious groups and that there was ample case law to back it up.

But Hill countered that the issue went beyond "just the church itself."

"All believers are put in a position of being considered discriminatory for acting on their beliefs," she said.

Several House Republican opponents agreed.

"I am concerned that in protecting the rights of one group of citizens we could be taking away the rights of another group," said Rep. Marguerite Quinn (R., Bucks), a committee member who offered an amendment that would exempt religious schools and day-care facilities from changing their hiring processes.

The committee did not consider the amendment, but the bill's sponsor, Rep. Dan Frankel (D., Allegheny), said he was open to discussing it and possibly including it in the bill considered by the full House.

While the bill has 70 cosponsors and the support of the House leadership, it faces a tough battle in the Republican-led Senate, which last year moved out of committee a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Twenty states, including New Jersey, have laws protecting individuals on the basis of sexual orientation, as do at least 13 Pennsylvania municipalities, including Philadelphia, Lansdowne, New Hope, Swarthmore, and West Chester.

Jake Kaskey, policy and outreach coordinator for Equality Advocates Pennsylvania, a lesbian, gay, and transgender rights group based in Philadelphia, said that without a state law, thousands of gay residents outside those municipalities were subject to, in essence, legal discrimination.

Kaskey said his organization handled 139 discrimination complaints last year. Philadelphia cases are referred to the city's Commission on Human Relations, but individuals living outside have little recourse.

When a waitress at a restaurant on the Montgomery County side of City Avenue filed a complaint, "there was nothing we could do for her," Kaskey said.

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission cannot investigate complaints against gays or lesbians because of the law. As a result, when Matthews filed a complaint against Penn State, the commission could hear only the gender-discrimination aspect of her case.

"It was very frustrating for me not to be able to file on the [sexual orientation] piece of it, Matthews said. "It wasn't the whole story."