Statewide LGBT+ rally built community and amplified call for equal rights | Opinion

On Sunday, Oct. 26, nearly 300 members of the queer and transgender community, and our allies, came together on our state capitol in Harrisburg to demand in one clear, collective voice for our state legislature to stand up for equal rights, equal access to care, and equal protections under the law for LGBT+ people.

The common refrain in social media comments under any news story about queer people standing up for our rights is to ask what rights the LGBT+ community doesn’t have. To list just a few:

• Executive orders and provisions in major pieces of federal legislation have been systematically decimating access to gender-affirming care, which is lifesaving medical treatment endorsed by every major medical association.
• Pennsylvania’s protections against discrimination for LGBT+ people in housing, employment and public services are not codified into state law, and the legislature has repeatedly chosen not to act on legislation that would fix this.
• PA’s ban on conversion therapy — a practice that is widely discredited as harmful and akin to torture — is not codified into state law.
• Despite LGBT+ people being targeted and victimized in hate-driven violence at extremely high rates, PA state law does not recognize LGBT+ hate crimes and offers no protections or recognition to victims of anti-queer violence.
• The right to marriage equality is under direct threat, and PA law has not codified the right to marriage for queer people.

Simply put, LGBT+ people do not enjoy the same access to our constitutionally guaranteed rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — and over a dozen nonprofit and community organizations, including Centre LGBT+ here in Centre County, came together in Harrisburg to demand our legislature stand up for the rights of all Pennsylvanians.

We believe this transcends party, politics or partisanship. Protecting liberty for queer and trans people strengthens liberty for all people. It is an expression of the most foundational principles of American identity: freedom, individuality, justice and liberty.

Our rally on Sunday — in which Centre LGBT+ worked closely with organizations including the Pennsylvania Youth Congress, UDTJ community center, the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project and TransYOUniting — was a stunning show of support, care and community.

It showed LGBT+ people across our commonwealth: you are not alone, and you deserve your equal rights, equal care, and equal protections under the law.

I organized and drove a carpool of trans young adults, who I think had each been lacking a sense of connection as members of our State College community. The current climate is incredibly isolating for many queer and trans people. But on the drive home, there was a new depth of camaraderie and connection — a newfound sense of friendship and joy as members of both our broader LGBT+ community and our local State College community.

The next day, one of them thanked me for bringing him. “I made some lifelong friends yesterday,” he said.

My heart swelled. At the end of the day, that’s what this work is all about. Community. Joy. Liberty. Dignity. Freedom. Friendship.

If you’ve found yourself in need of those things — or if you want to get involved in helping make that impact for others — please, reach out to us at Centre LGBT+. We are here for you.

Michel Lee Garrett is a Centre LGBT+ board member.