Erie County, Pennsylvania, becomes latest addition to
growing list of jurisdictions protecting gender variant people
from discrimination.

Wed, 27 Feb 2002. Last night, Erie County Council passed a Human
Relations Act which includes both sexual orientation and gender identity.
The vote was 6-1, with only council president David Mitchell voting
against it. Even then, Mitchell asked County Executive Rick Schenker
not to veto it.

What's even more interesting is that Schenker has indicated to the
media that he will sign the ordinance into law. Schenker was the
executive director of the PA Christian Coalition in the early to mid
1990's. Schenker's options are to sign the legislation into law, veto
it, or let it become law without his signature. Schenker could have
vetoed the bill, but he probably would have had his veto overridden
given the overwhelming support of the council. Nobody likes to have
their vetoes overridden...

However, that he would sign the legislation into law instead of just
letting it become law without his signature is both notable and
commendable. He had originally expressed opposition to the
legislation, citing economic concerns. Data surfaced demonstrating
that in fact such ordinances are more likely to help rather than
hinder economic development.

Given his background, it seems that Schenker is taking his role as
the Erie County Executive for all Erie's citizens seriously. A very
good sign indeed.

Several people worked on the passage of this ordiannce, but none
harder that local Erie activist Michael Mahler. He was really the
driving force behind this effort, and kept it going. Eventually, the
Erie County Democratic Party official endorsed the ordinance as well.
Commissioners on the existing Human Relations Commission, also
supported it. The area chapter of the ACLU and PFLAG were also
strongly involved. LGLV provided economic data and some local
publicity in support of the effort.

But ultimately, it came down to Michael. We are so pleased to have
had an association with him all these years. Thanks for your hard
work, Michael!

Michael is also the editor of the Erie Gay News, which can be found
at http://www.eriegaynews.com. You'll be able to get more details on
this effort there.

--Chris Young

League of Gay and Lesbian Voters
info@lglv.org
5819-B Forward Ave.
Pittsburgh, Pa 15217
(412) 421-4470
http://www.lglv.org/
Christopher Yau Choy Young
Ozone Project
Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute
cycy@ri.cmu.edu