(The Center Square) – Milton Shapp may not be a household name in Pennsylvania homes today, but the state’s 40th governor remains a symbol of allyship and early advocacy for equal rights in the queer community.
The Governor’s Advisory Commission on LGBTQ affairs celebrated 50 years since Shapp signed an executive order protecting state employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal recalled being at Stonewall, the event that spurred him toward activism. His journey ultimately led him to a meeting with Shapp that would help turn the tides of history for Pennsylvania’s LGBQT+ community.
LGBQT+ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and many other sexual and gender identities.
“Our history is being censored, so I thank all of you for being here,” said Segal, referring to federal diversity bans and subsequent scrubbing of minority figures from government websites and historical records.
Shapp coaxed Segal to sign up to join the Pennsylvania State Police in order to illustrate the point that gay men were as capable, and therefore as deserving of, the job as their straight counterparts.
“I think it is important to note again that he was the first governor in the entire country to prohibit discrimination against LGBQT+ state employees,” said Rep. Jessica Benham, D-Pittsburgh. “That is a really incredible moment that we should celebrate and honor in Pennsylvania’s history.”
Benham co-chairs the LGBQT+ Equality caucus with Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, who also currently serves as a vice-chairman in the Democratic National Committee. They are among seven out members of the LGBQT+ community in the state House of Representatives.
But advocates say there is progress still to be made, while allies need to rally to prevent existing rights from being eroded by those who oppose them.
“There are freedoms that Malcolm and I enjoy as Black people in this commonwealth that we do not enjoy as queer people in this commonwealth,” said Rep. Izzy Smith-Wade-El, D-Lancaster. “We can still be removed from our homes, removed from public education and fired from our jobs.”
Given the state’s early successes, Smith-Wade-El asked, “How at this late date in the year 2025 can we be so behind?”
Benham brought up the state’s trigger law which would ban same-sex marriage if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that enshrined marriage rights throughout the country in 2014. She also pointed to the Fairness Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression statewide.
Ashleigh Strange, executive director of the Governor’s Advisory Committee on LGBQT+ Affairs, noted that Shapp’s empathy toward the community and his leadership in this vein came from his own experience being different. He was born a Shapiro but changed his name to avoid antisemitism.
“As the governor says, no matter what you look like, where you come from, who you love, or who you pray to, you have a place here in Pennsylvania,” said Strange.
