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A town is set to be the first municipality in Pennsylvania to repeal anti-discrimination ordinances that protect people based on their sexual orientation, ethnicity and gender identity. The Chambersburg Borough Council voted Monday to rescind the ordinance only four months after it went into effect.
This comes after a conservative majority was voted onto the council.
Chambersburg, a borough in central Pennsylvania became a focal point for conservative activism after the town council passed the ordinance in October. The ordinance provided protections for LGBTQ+ people in addition to people of color.
However, last November, a conservative majority was voted onto the town council.
As soon as they were seated, they held a vote to repeal the civil rights ordinance.
Alicia Elia, the former Chambersburg borough council president, said:
“I don’t know of any reasons for repealing it other than a political move."
"This issue should not be politicized.”
“It’s an issue of justice and having equal protection for everybody in our community."
"It shouldn’t be a political or a Democratic or Republican issue."
"This should be something we are all concerned about.”
It won\u2019t stop with abortion: Pennsylvania borough poised to become first to repeal #LGBTQ protections https://buff.ly/3qTMDoT\u00a0 @PittsburghPG— Stacey Berg (@Stacey Berg) 1643034660
WTAF - bigots \u2026 omg PENNSYLVANIA wtafhttps://twitter.com/BrianSimsPA/status/1485738833987653656\u00a0\u2026— P.k. Ditty (@P.k. Ditty) 1643079141
No words\u2026— maggie (@maggie) 1642888852
Omfg— debbie156-MeidasMighty \u24c2\ufe0f\u24c2\ufe0f (@debbie156-MeidasMighty \u24c2\ufe0f\u24c2\ufe0f) 1642883585
It is Rs on council. Shame on them. PA state needs to protect. This is extreme religious views. Rep from council said people wanted this. What kind of people live there?— Irene Adams (@Irene Adams) 1643147354
In contrast to Elia, Allen Coffman, the new council president, doesn’t think civil rights is an issue.
Coffman believes it’s his duty to vote it out.
“All of us that ran in this election to be on council we think we got a mandate from the people."
"People we talked to when we were campaigning did not like this ordinance at all.”
However, at the council meeting where they voted to repeal the ordinance, more than 50 people spoke out against repealing the ordinance, while only 6 spoke in favor of the repeal.
Pennsylvania is one of 27 states that don’t have explicit statewide laws protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
The ordinance was ripe for Republicans to rush in and get rid of it.
This is so clearly the goal of the Republican Party. They seek to undo it all.https://twitter.com/briansimspa/status/1485738833987653656\u00a0\u2026— Melanie Jean (@Melanie Jean) 1643063375
BuT I'm a sInGLe iSsUe vOtER— Jorge (he/him) (@Jorge (he/him)) 1643141284
Coming to YOUR town next...GQP must go down in ashes.pic.twitter.com/RFQ8kKVm5k— Georgiavote (@Georgiavote) 1643034600
This only makes bigots and religious nuts happy. It will do nothing to attract young people or stimulate economic growth.— Absynthe.redd (@Absynthe.redd) 1643063693
The community is not taking the ordinance repeal well.
Preston Heldibridle, executive director of the Pennsylvania Youth Congress—an advocacy group for transgender teens—said:
“This goes beyond politics."
"This is a neighborhood issue and we support all those who live, work and choose to raise their families in the borough.”
However, not just LGBTQ+ people benefitted from the ordinance.
It also included protections for veterans and people of color. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf tweeted before the vote, pushing for a statewide act to provide anti-discrimination protections.
Which brings us to the most important thing people can do now—support local elections.
We must make change at the local level - canvassing / emailing anything we can. This is unacceptable. H/T @PatJSullyhttps://twitter.com/briansimspa/status/1485738833987653656\u00a0\u2026— Brittany (@Brittany) 1643073608
As someone who was there, nothing except vote the Republicans out.— Shannon Brown (@Shannon Brown) 1643098045
Population of about 21k in 2016 \n\nBoasts a large and diverse population on its website.\n\nPA business leaders, DON\u2019T PUT YOUR $ HERE\n\nStarve these homophobes out— \ud83c\udf0aAnd He\u2019s Had Enuff \ud83c\udf0a (@\ud83c\udf0aAnd He\u2019s Had Enuff \ud83c\udf0a) 1642883639
All part of the authoritarian playbook. Fight back. Vote blue.— Cassandra DeLong (@Cassandra DeLong) 1643072223
Conservatives have an adversarial relationship with city civil rights ordinances.
Any attempts to protect people are challenged.
A few years back, a similar ordinance in Louisville, Kentucky was challenged by a right-wing photographer, who worried about having to photograph a same-sex wedding. However, in the 20 years of the ordinance, no one ever asked her to shoot a same-sex wedding.