Which U.S. state finally removed archaic anti-homosexuality laws from its crime code just this week? Place your bets now!
If you had your money on good ole’ Penn state, you’re today’s big winner! It turns out that even as gay marriage was being legalized and anti-sodomy laws were being struck down across the country, Pennsylvania still had a law on the books criminalizing any and all depictions of homosexuality.
Specifically, the cited entry in the crime code forbade the “sale, rental, distribution, exhibition, publication, lending, giving away or showing of obscene and other sexual material,” including homosexual material (which was deemed “patently offensive”). The charge was punished with a $300 fine or 90 days in prison.
The law was first discovered in February as Ordinance 2963 in Upper Darby’s crime code by a local Upper Darby Pride board member. Community members came together to bring it to their local council’s attention, and by March, it was unanimously repealed.
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Related: Senator who proposed making the word “homosexuality” illegal says she’s being misinterpreted
However, during their investigation into the ordinance, council members found that it was actually copied directly from an entry in the crime code of the state at large.
Council President Laura Wentz, Upper Darby Pride President Damien Warsavage, and others worked tirelessly to get the attention of state officials to have this egregious wrong corrected, and soon, a bill drafted by Democratic State Rep. Mike Zabel was introduced on the Senate floor.
Though it was originally tabled as an amendment to another crime code-addressing bill, a bill addressing the same ordinance was introduced by another state lawmaker, and quickly (well, bureaucracy quick) passed through both the House and Senate.
After a good few months of red tape and correspondence, House Bill 2125 was signed by Governor Tom Wolf on Monday, finally (finally!) decriminalizing homosexual materials in the state.
Next steps are both for other local legislatures to check their crime codes for equally discriminatory laws and for the state to pass protections for LGBTQ people that would supersede archaic, overlooked, flat-out harmful crime code entries like this.
Related: Arizona just voted to ban queer history education. Here’s what it means for students.
scotty
ok Fellow Yinzers….all clear for now.
johncp56
No high fives yet, this has to be done on federal level, and keep an eye on the supreme court, oh the rightwing court