Remarks From Stephen Glassman

Chairman of The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission

My Friends:

I am deeply sorry due to a scheduling conflict not to be with you today at your rally in support of full equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pennsylvanians. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is one of the oldest and largest agencies of its kind in the nation and is charged with eradicating discrimination and bias for minorities and women throughout the Commonwealth. Our eleven Commissioners, Democrats and Republicans alike, have unanimously supported the addition of "sexual orientation and gender identity" to our state civil rights statutes for a number of years.

Currently, we are advocating for the successful passage of House Bill 1400 and Senate Bill 761 which would add these two protected classes to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act which our agency enforces. We have worked hard for the last five years under my Chairmanship to assist local jurisdictions throughout the state in establishing their own human relations commissions and to pass their own non-discrimination ordinances. We have partnered in this important initiative with Equality Advocates PA and I am proud to say that today there are 14 cities, counties, towns, and boroughs with these local laws in place including the City of Lancaster.

Now, we are under assault by a group of small minded individuals and organizations who want to further limit our rights as LGBT people by denying us the ability to legally protect our partners and our families. I am personally offended by the notion that anyone should have to suffer in silence as a second class citizen in the state of Pennsylvania while being forced to live with limited rights and restricted options. We deserve full equality, we demand full equality, and we will achieve full equality with your support and involvement. Please join our effort to amend our state non-discrimination laws and to fight this misguided attempt to amend our constitution to exclude us from full participation in the democratic process. Together, we must defeat Senate Bill 1250 by telling our elected officials that nothing less than full equality should be acceptable to anyone who claims to love Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Today, there is an insidious campaign underway to enshrine discrimination into our state constitution by denying the fundamental right to marry to LGBT Pennsylvanians. Nothing is more sacred than the right to determine one's own life partner, to publicly proclaim that love and that relationship before friends and family, and to participate in the numerous rights and responsibilities that are accorded to married persons at the state and federal level. Our very happiness depends upon our ability to love and marry the person of our choosing and to raise our children free from the fear that our relationships will not be recognized.

There is only one kind of marriage in this country whether it is for opposite sex couples, same sex couples, religiously different couples, or mixed race couples. There is no "straight marriage", "gay marriage", or "mixed marriage"; there is simply MARRIAGE. It must become a Civil Right in America to enjoy the benefits of Civil Marriage no matter who you are.

Today, here in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, you are standing together to say NO to bigotry and bias, YES to the recognition of our relationships, and NO WAY to the passage of Senate Bill 1250! I am with you in spirit, if not in person, and am working hard every day to ensure that fairness and equality will prevail in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for all who choose to live or travel through this beautiful state.

We WILL prevail in this struggle for equality. It may not be today, and it may not be tomorrow. But ultimately we will prevail. It is inevitable that we will win this campaign for our freedom and our rights because our cause is just, our opposition is rooted in irrational prejudice, and our very lives are hanging in the balance. In 25 years we will look back on these culture wars and wonder how we ever rationalized the denial of rights to LGBT people. That will be a wonderful time for those who live to see it. But for those of us living through this war of dueling ideologies in 2008 it feels like we are engaged in a bitter battle indeed.

This is your call to action! This is your time to get involved and speak out! This is your time to make a difference by standing up for equality and justice for LGBT Pennsylvanians by letting your legislators know that you will settle for nothing less.