On Monday, Chambersburg is poised to become the first municipality in Pennsylvania to rescind an ordinance that extends equal rights protection to gay, transgender and queer community members. Proponents are crying foul, calling it a politically driven move.
The Chambersburg Borough Council is poised to on Monday vote to rescind an anti-discrimination ordinance in what is widely being seen as a politically driven move, coming only four months after the borough ratified the ordinance in October. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.
The ordinance, which extends protections against discrimination to gay, transgender or genderqueer people in employment, housing and public accommodations, was passed in October by the then-Democratic majority council. The council last year led a three-month exploratory process to fact find and delve into the issues. The process was accessible to the public.
Although Franklin County is predominantly Republican leaning, Mailey said that what is playing out in the borough — the county seat — mirrors other nationwide trends. Coffman said the ordinance serves no purpose and is redundant, noting that the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission already is tasked with handling discrimination complaints from commonwealth residents.
If Chambersburg succeeds in repealing the ordinance, it would mark the first time an LGBTQ inclusive law is revoked in Pennsylvania. To date, 70 municipalities, including Gettysburg, Shippensburg, Carlisle, Camp Hill and Harrisburg, have ratified such ordinances. Heldibridle noted that anti-discrimination ordinances have broad support, including from education and economic stakeholders. During Thursday’s town hall, he noted that entities such as WellSpan, Penn State, Wilson College and Giant have come out in support of the ordinance.
“I support this non-discrimination ordinance specifically because of what Jesus said was the greatest commandment,” she said. “To love God with all our heart, soul, might and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. How wide is our circle of neighbors? Well according to Jesus Christ, everyone is a potential neighbor and due our love and compassion.”