#98: Participate in a protest

On Tuesday, March 13 I made the decision to walk the couple of blocks from my apartment over to the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg to add another body to the room where the PA House Committee meeting was taking place.  The reason I chose to be there was because of a bill that was introduced by the Chairman of the PA House Committee, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe.  House Bill 1434 would define marriage as a union between one man and one woman and outlaw any other legal union that is treated as a marriage or the substantial equivalent (i.e. civil unions and domestic partnerships).  

Just a few points to consider:

• HB 1434 would not create a single job
• It would cost taxpayers an estimated $600,000-$1,000,000 to advertise this amendment to voters should it pass the General Assembly
• Same sex marriage is already illegal in Pennsylvania:  a constitutional amendment does nothing more to that status and is unnecessary and mean-spirited.
• Passage of this legislation will forcefully terminate benefits currently provided to thousands of employees in municipalities or state owned schools or facilities that offer domestic partnership benefits
• Support for this type of hurtful legislation is waning nationwide and in Pennsylvania.  The last time a constitutional amendment was introduced in the House of the General Assembly in 2006, there were 87 co-sponsors.  HB 1434 was introduced with only 35 cosponsors.
• Pennsylvanians AREN’T calling for this amendment.  Not one legitimate poll exists showing Pennsylvanians in favor of this amendment.

Once I arrived at the Capitol Rotunda, we were addressed briefly by Ted Martin, Executive Director of Equality Pennsylvania and Andy Hoover, lobbyist for the ACLU of Pennsylvania.  They informed us that it was possible that HB 1434 might not come up for a vote at the meeting we were about to attend, but that it was still important that we all be there to silently show our disapproval of the bill. 

The meeting began at 9am.  What happened next is being messaged to many as a "victory" for marriage equality.  I would say that, yes, it was a "victory" in the sense that HB 1434 did not pass - but that's only because it wasn't brought to a vote.  Instead, after 20 minutes of discussion, Rep. Metcalfe deemed that there was not enough time to talk about HB 1434 and that it would be tabled until a later date.  I found this article by John L. Micek - I am going to post it here for all of you to read because I honestly could not have said it better myself:  

http://blogs.mcall.com/capitol_ideas/2012/03/things-government-does-house-committee-puts-off-gay-marriage-amendment-but-does-other-stuff-instead.html