Equality PA Launches 6-Week Tour In Support Of Anti-Discrimination Bill
By Cherri Gregg
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- This week President Obama signed an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against workers based on sexual orientation or identity.
Advocates in Pennsylvania are stepping up their efforts to end LGBT discrimination in the Commonwealth.
Equality Pennsylvania has launched a six-week tour across the state to drum up support for House and Senate Bill 300, which would provide statewide discrimination protection for gays, lesbians and trangendered people in Pennsylvania.
"There are 270,000 LGBT people in Pennsylvania, and most of them do not have protection," said Equality Pa Spokesperson Levana Layendecker.
Layendecker says it's about one-third of the LGBT people in the state live in a municipality where it's still legal to fire, evict or turn someone away from a business based solely on sexual orientation. But many Pennsylvanians don't know it.
Equality Pennsylvania kicked off their tour in Lancaster County. Other stops include State College and Springfield.
A federal effort to end LGBT discrimination is getting push backs after lawmakers added a religious exemption that some advocates says gives religious institutions a blank check to discriminate.