Western Pennsylvania County Council Hearing on Anti-Discrimination Ordinance
by: PghLesbian
Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 01:48:51 AM EST
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( - promoted by Pam Spaulding)
Allegheny County is the second largest county in the state and home to the City of Pittsburgh, which has boasted an inclusive human rights commission ordinance for over 15 years. Inclusive of both sexual orientation and gender identity.
This past weekend, over a hundred advocates and nearly 10 politicians from the City, Council and State braved frigid weather to rally for LGBTQ rights. Particular emphasis is on a proposed Countywide ordinance to establish a Human Rights Commission which would extend civil protections to residents based on sexual orientation, gender identify and gender expression.
The bill has attracted the attention of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania which has pried four of the ordinance's original co-sponsors away. While general wisdom is that their votes would still be there, the backlash over this intrusion generated an overwhelming response for Pittsburgh's LGBTQ community and allies attending tonight's public hearing on the ordinance.