The Fairness Act Has Bipartisan Support. So What's Holding It Up In Harrisburg? | Analysis

By Justin Sweitzer, Special to the Capital-Star, Pennsylvania Capital-Star

June 5, 2022

In at least 21 states, employers, landlords and other business owners are barred by law from discriminating against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. But such protections are essentially nonexistent in most parts of Pennsylvania, meaning LGBTQ Pennsylvanians can – and do – face discrimination when it comes to applying for housing, using public restrooms and receiving services as basic as haircuts.

That’s not to say such protections don’t exist in certain parts of the state. Municipalities ranging from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, Abington to Allentown, and Erie to Easton have all implemented their own local policies that protect LGBTQ Pennsylvanians from facing discrimination when it comes to housing, employment and other public accommodations.

But the result is a patchwork of local nondiscrimination ordinances that leaves members of the LGBTQ community protected in some parts of the state and subject to harassment and discrimination in others.

“We continue to be the only state in the Northeast that doesn’t have protections in statute for LGBQ&T Pennsylvanians,” said Julie Zaebst, a senior policy associate for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.

Zaebst noted that “dozens and dozens” of local governments have stepped in to approve their own nondiscrimination policies in light of inaction at the state level, where legislation known as the Fairness Act has not been advanced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

“It’s hard to keep track of because localities continue to step in where the state is sort of falling down and they want to make sure that these protections are really explicit on paper in their localities,” Zaebst said. “At the same time in the state legislature, we have seen virtually zero movement on nondiscrimination bills to protect LGBQ&T Pennsylvanians for almost 20 years at this point.”

The Fairness Act would enshrine protections for LGBTQ Pennsylvanians in state law. Specifically, it would amend the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act – which already prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, age and national origin – by adding prohibitions for discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

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