Springfield commissioners pass anti-discrimination ordinance - Springfield Sun - Montgomery News

Springfield commissioners pass anti-discrimination ordinance - Springfield Sun - Montgomery News: After nearly a year of discussion, the Springfield, Pennsylvania, Township Board of Commissioners voted 4-2 Wednesday to pass an anti-discrimination ordinance in front of a full room of mostly supportive community members.

Pennsylvania considering gender identity legislation

“The Pennsylvania Senate introduced an LGBT non-discrimination bill on April 10, 2007. The bill, SB 761, has now been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration.” (hat tip to Jen Burke at Transcending Gender blog)

This same legislation was introduced last year. In my post on the subject then, there's some interesting info: the results of a statewide poll on the possibility of banning such discrimination, the 2003 state regulation on the issue, the several Pennsylvania cities that have passed similar ordinances, the major Pennsylvania employers adopting gender identity policies, and the 2006 federal district court ruling finding that Title VII, the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits discrimination against transgender employees. If you click on the label below marked "Pennsylvania," you'll find more about what's been happening in that state.

As I've noted before, the current wisdom is that such laws help increase the labor pool needed by large companies. There are currently 49 Fortune 1000 companies in Pennsvlvania that would be affected by this legislation:

AmerisourceBergen, Sunoco, Comcast, Rite Aid, Cigna, United States Steel, Aramark, PPG Industries, H.J. Heinz, Air Products & Chem.,Rohm & Haas, PNC Financial Services Group, Crown Holdings, PPL, Toll Brothers, Unisys, Mellon Financial Corp., Lincoln National, Erie Insurance Group, Jones Apparel Group, UGI, Hershey, Wesco International, Ikon Office Solutions, Universal Health Svcs., SunGard Data Systems, Consol Energy, Sovereign Bancorp, Armstrong Holdings, Allegheny Technologies, Allegheny Energy, Harsco, Charming Shoppes, Teleflex, Dick's Sporting Goods, Airgas, American Eagle Outfitters, Kennametal, Vishay Intertechnology, Pep Boys, Weis Markets, FMC, Select Medical, JLG Industries, Dentsply International, Genesis HealthCare, Agere Systems, Penn National Gaming, Ametek.

Pennsylvania gender identity bill re-introduced

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.

West Chester Pennsylvania Council moves gender identity ordinance forward

After some fine-tuning, council members voted last week to move forward an anti-discrimination ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The ordinance, applicable to employment, housing and public accommodation, would establish a Human Relations Commission to mediate disputes.

The ordinance was bumped back to the Public Safety Committee, which decided to lower the number of commissioners to five, based on concerns that filling nine positions might present difficulty, and to include an expanded procedures option, allowing the borough council and the commission to seek additional funding for dispute resolution. The Public Safety Committee also decided to put appointments in the hands of the borough council alone, rather than the mayor and the council.

The new draft will now go to the borough solicitor, and it will be scheduled for a public hearing.

11 other cities and counties in Pennsylvania have passed ordinances that include gender identity, including Allentown, Easton, Erie County, Harrisburg, Lansdowne, New Hope, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Swarthmore and York.

I note that, 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.

West Chester PA considers gender identity ordinance

Borough Council members decided to move the discussion about an anti-discrimination ordinance to the Public Safety Committee Tuesday night. The purpose of the proposed ordinance is to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It would apply to employment, housing and public accommodation.

Easton, Pennsylvania passes gender identity ordinance

I previously blogged about the ordinance being considered in Easton. Wednesday evening, the city passed a Human Relations Ordinance that includes a prohibition of discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.

The ordinance passed 5-0. Easton, with a population of 25,000, becomes the 11th city and county in PA 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.

I note that, 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.

News: Easton, Pennsylvania statute proposed

An ordinance has been proposed in Easton, Pennsylvania, to prohibit employment discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, among other things. Pennsylvania's human rights statute does not explicitly protect transgender employees, although Pennsylvania prohibits discrimination based on gender identity among public employees.

If passed, Easton would join several Pennsylvania cities prohibiting employment discrimination based on gender identity: Allentown, Erie, Harrisburg, Lansdowne, New Hope, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Swarthmore, and York.

A number of major employers based in PA ave policies that protect transgender employees, including Agere Systems, Air Products, GlaxoSmithKline, Unisys, Carnegie Mellon, Community Behavioral Health, OneSource, University of Pennsylvania, Lincoln National, Mellon Financial, Lehigh University, and Pennsylvania State University.

News: Carlisle, PA considering anti-bias law

Carlisle Mayor Kirk Wilson said Friday he wants the Borough Council to pass a resolution in June or July that, eventually, could lead to an ordinance banning discrimination against people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

This article is particularly interesting because of the community process being followed in this case. Wilson said the council's likely first move would be to join the National League of Cities' Partnership for Working Toward Inclusive Communities. Then, in the fall, he and council members would meet with education, business, religious and community groups to create a public forum to discuss inclusion. Such a ban would come only after community meetings and review by the borough's legal staff, Wilson said. "The resolution would be first," Wilson said. "That's what this whole process is about, to determine what the community feels it needs."

In addition, the reasons cited in the article for the proposed law demonstrate the reasoning behind its adoption by many communities: economic development.

"Cities must be attractive to creative, innovative people, not only gays and lesbians, said Gary J. Gates, senior research fellow at the Williams Project on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the UCLA School of Law. Community leaders everywhere want economic development, said James Hunt, president of National League of Cities, which formed the Partnership for Working Toward Inclusive Communities. Hunt said more than 30 communities have joined the partnership, and he expects 70 more to join by the end of the summer. "Without looking at a community as an inclusive community, economic development is very difficult," he said. "Sometimes, we get too comfortable in our existing demographics and don't realize the future is going to be a lot more diverse, and we'll be challenged in different ways."

This is similar to my findings in my dissertation at page 104:

"Public employers adopting transgender HR policies show similar patterns. Non-discrimination policies are viewed as a means of attracting a highly educated labor force, a larger business tax base and a more affluent population. This is referred to as the 3T's formula, which stands for Technology, Talent and Tolerance (Florida 2003). The gay population has been used, in this connection, as a measure of the creative class within geographic areas and as part of an index to determine their attractiveness to high-tech businesses. The creator of this index, Dr. Richard Florida of Carnegie Mellon University, is a sought-after lecturer and consultant for cities seeking to revitalize, and his theory is named as number 2 on Harvard Business Review's list of breakthrough ideas for 2004. (Richard Florida Creativity Group 2004)"

For those who are interested, I also set forth there salient portions of interviews with town officials regarding their adoption process for anti-discrimination laws protecting "gender identity."