A bill that would ban discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation in employment, housing and credit statewide has been re-introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature. The bill has 57 sponsors.
A statewide poll on the possibility of banning such discrimination in 2003 by a Republican polling firm showed 68 percent support from Pennsylvania voters.
The state has prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender identity for public employees since 2003. Most recently, Easton, with a population of 25,000, became the 11th city and county in the state to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, joining Allentown, Erie County, Harrisburg, Lansdowne, New Hope, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Swarthmore and York. As mentioned in a previous blog, a federal district court in Pennsylvania found that Title VII covers transgender employees. Mitchell v. Axcan Scandipharm, Inc., Slip Copy, 2006 WL 456173 W.D.Pa.,2006. Feb 17, 2006.
A number of major employers based in the state have policies that protect transgender employees, including Agere Systems, Air Products, CIGNA, Carnegie Mellon, Community Behavioral Health, GlaxoSmithKline, Lehigh University, Lincoln National, Mellon Financial, OneSource, Pennsylvania State University, Severn Trent Services, Unisys, and University of Pennsylvania.
