State College mayor joins others around country in letter urging Congress for more LGBTQ protections
State College Borough Mayor Ron Filippelli recently joined more than 140 other municipal leaders around the country in urging Congress to pass federal protections for the LGBTQ community.
Filippelli co-signed a letter addressed to Congress from the Freedom for All Americans organization, which aims to secure nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people. Although State College has received high marks for its inclusiveness, Pennsylvania remains one of 29 states that still lacks comprehensive LGBTQ protections.
“We’ve been on record for a pretty long time now to be against discrimination of any kind, and I also, of course, strongly believe that we shouldn’t discriminate against anybody,” Filippelli said Thursday afternoon. “So it was an easy choice for me to sign the letter.”
The letter, which includes signatures from officials in Alaska to Wyoming, notes that local laws — such as those in State College — aren’t enough to fully fight discrimination against the LGBTQ community. Sure, it’s a step forward, the organization said. But local laws can’t be the only solution, the letter stated.
“This patchwork of protections is unworkable for LGBTQ people who are vulnerable where they live and when they travel, for national businesses who wrestle with different standards in different places, and for people on all sides of the political spectrum who support fair and consistent treatment for their LGBTQ neighbors,” the open letter read. “... Only comprehensive federal legislation can resolve this patchwork and provide clear and consistent guidelines for all to follow.”
State College has worked to become more inclusive of the LGBTQ community, through initiatives, Council resolutions and other acts that have watched the borough receive back-to-back perfect equality index scores for its LGBTQ community protections, like all-inclusive workplace protections and banning conversion therapy for minors. State College received its latest 100/100 score earlier this month, compared to the national average of 64/100.
But other places in Pennsylvania, and around the nation, didn’t fare so well. And it’s areas like that, Filippelli said, that should compel Congress to take action on the national issue of such protections.
“I think the two areas that are most essential, in my mind, are housing and employment,” Filippelli added.
State College’s mayor joined three dozen other Pennsylvania officials in lending their names to the letter. Others to sign included mayors from Allentown, Bethlehem, Bridgeport, Conshohocken, Doylestown, Easton, Erie, Milford, Sharpsburg and West Conshohocken.
The end of the letter implored Congress to take action immediately.
“As elected officials we have the obligation to ensure through legislation that all are treated equally under the law — it’s the golden rule of democracy,” the letter read. “And in every state across the country, a supermajority of Americans support common sense protections for the LGBTQ community.
“It’s time for Congress to fulfill its responsibility and pass a federal law making clear that no one should face discrimination because of who they are, who they love or what zip code they call home.”
