The GOP-led Chambersburg Borough Council recently repealed an anti-discrimination ordinance that offered protections to the LGBTQ community.
Some 22 states afford LGBTQ individuals protections from being denied housing, jobs, education, and access to public accommodations. Pennsylvania is not one of those states, making it the only state in the Northeast that does not offer such protections.
That means anti-discrimination laws are set at the local level in Pennsylvania. Out of 2,562 municipalities in the commonwealth, only 70 have LGBTQ inclusive laws. And Chambersburg has become the first to revoke theirs.
Last week, by a 7-3 Republican-majority vote, the Chambersburg Borough Council repealed its anti-discrimination ordinance citing a host of reasons, including redundancy in the ordinance and lack of muscle in its provisions.
The ordinance, enacted just four months ago by a then-Democratic majority, provided protections against discrimination toward gay, transgender, or genderqueer people in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
Previous council president and current council member Alice Elia said the ordinance was important to members of the LGBTQ community. She said when people go to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission with a complaint, it would give them a local law to point to that indicates discrimination is not allowed in that community.
“It made an important statement about who we are as a community,” Elia said. “It saddens me to think that we would be dialing back on that and telling people in our community that they are not worthy of equal protections.”
Julie Zaebst, senior policy advocate with the ACLU, says a local ordinance is another layer of protection.
“Should the legal interpretation change around discrimination on the basis of sex it guarantees that folks in municipalities with these explicit protections for LGBTQ and transgender people continue to be covered,” Zaebst said.
Politics
Pennsylvania redesigned its mail-in ballot envelopes amid litigation. Some voters still tripped up
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A form Pennsylvania voters must complete on the outside of mail-in ballot return envelopes has been redesigned, but that did...
Biden makes 4 million more workers eligible for overtime pay
The Biden administration announced a new rule Tuesday to expand overtime pay for around 4 million lower-paid salaried employees nationwide. The...
Malcolm Kenyatta makes history after winning primary for Pa. Auditor General
State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who was first elected to the state House in 2018, won the Democratic nomination for Pa. Auditor General and will...
Local News
What do you know about Wawa? 7 fun facts about Pennsylvania’s beloved convenience store
Wawa has 60 years of Pennsylvania roots, and today the commonwealth’s largest private company has more than 1,000 locations along the east coast....
Conjoined twins from Berks County die at age 62
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations,...