Last week, the Governor’s Advisory Commission on LGBTQ+ Affairs was joined by state legislators and LGBTQ+ advocates to commemorate the 50th anniversary of an Executive Order signed by former Governor Milton Shapp to protect state employees from discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation – the first of its kind in the nation.
“I’m proud to be a Commonwealth employee and honored to be protected by these polices and by the advocates that made it happen,” said Ashleigh Strange, Executive Director of Governor’s Advisory Commission on LGBTQ Affairs. “Pennsylvanians that are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Non-binary, 2-spirit, and more are seen, believed, and protected here.”
For the event, the LGBT Center of Central PA History Project produced a historical exhibit honoring Governor Shapp and Pennsylvania’s history and leadership in protecting LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians, which was on display in the rotunda. This exhibit will now be on display at the State Library of Pennsylvania through July 31st, and it is available to travel to venues across Pennsylvania.
In 1974, Governor Shapp was the first governor in the nation to meet with the LGBTQ+ community and to establish the first state task force in the nation devoted to developing public policy for the LGBTQ+ community. Just a year later, Pennsylvania became the first state in the nation to prohibit discrimination toward LGBTQ+ state employees after Governor Shapp signed an Executive Order doing so – and later expanded the nondiscrimination policy to state contracting.
The Shapiro Administration is committed to honoring the legacy of leadership that began Pennsylvania when it comes to protecting LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians – building a Commonwealth that is warm and welcoming for all Pennsylvanians, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, or who they love. Governor Shapiro has repeatedly called for the passage of the Fairness Act, a nondiscrimination law that ensures that LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians are ensured equal protection under the law.
Read what advocates and legislators from across the Commonwealth are saying:
Mark Segal, LGBTQ+ activist, and founder of Philadelphia Gay News; “Milton J. Shapp was the first Governor in the country to meet with a gay activist. Other Governors around the country ran from gay activists. Not Milton Shapp. He had me go to state legislators to ask if they would stand behind us as he signed the executive order. Not one did. But today I’m surrounded by legislators standing with us. Governor Shapp would be proud.”
State Representative Jessica Benham, co-Chair of the PA Legislative LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus: “As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Governor Shapp’s executive order, the first governor in the entire country to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ+ state employees, we honor this historical first. However, in the present moment, we have to acknowledge how far behind other states we currently are. We have a trigger law banning same sex marriage on the books. We don’t have statewide non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people. And where the Democratic-controlled PA State House has consistently taken action to pass a bipartisan marriage equality bill and the Fairness Act, the GOP-led State Senate fails to act. We must and will continue the legacy of Governor Shapp in fighting for further protections for our community.”
Rep Ismail Smith-Wade-El, co-Chair of PA Legislative LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus: "What Governor Shapp did and what we continue to do now is about a long tradition of being Pennsylvanian. For decades, this was the place where slaves fleeing oppression came to know that they were free. This was the birthplace of democracy. At every step, Pennsylvania has led in increasing freedoms. Passing the Fairness Act will finally put us back on track with our legacy as a north star state.”
Barry Loveland, Chair of History Project, LGBT Center of Central PA: “This anniversary is a significant milestone in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, (or LGBT) civil rights movement in both Pennsylvania and the nation. But it is just one of several initiatives for LGBT equality by Governor Shapp. Governor Shapp was Pennsylvania’s 40th governor, its first Jewish governor, and we are calling him America’s first LGBTQ+ Equality Governor. His initiatives were truly ground-breaking.”
See what Pennsylvanians are reading and watching:
WHTM: Pennsylvania officials push to protect LGBTQ rights
The Center Square: Queer community celebrates 50 years of discrimination protection
WGAL: As longtime LGBTQ+ protections turn 50, some say more change needed
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