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DEMAND ACTION NOW ON HB 1201/SB 716 · Pennsylvania needs to act now to put in place a strategy for addressing rising electricity costs because as rate caps are expiring statewide, Pennsylvania’s families and businesses are seeing punishing rate spikes. Businesses in the southwest part of the state saw a 70 percent hike. In Pike County, the school district saw a hike of 130% in their electric bill overnight. Families in the southwest have already seen more than a 30% jump and still more soaring costs are on the way. 

If your rates haven’t jumped yet, whopping increases are on the way. In less than three years the rate caps in every part of the state will have expired. (Rate caps were put in place as part of electricity deregulation that was put into law in Pennsylvania in 1996). · To stop this economic train wreck, Governor Rendell has proposed an “Energy Independence Strategy” that is aimed at cutting electric costs by $1 billion a year, some $10 billion over the next decade. 

· Specifically, the Energy Independence Strategy –Directs utilities to provide their customers with “least cost service”. Today’s law says utilities can charge whatever the market will bear. With the Governor’s plan, utilities will have to do some work for their customers, shopping around and finding the best deal on electricity for their customer’s benefit. 

–Directs utilities to invest in cost effective conservation first, instead of saddling rate payers with multi-billion dollar bills to string new transmission lines across the state to meet growing demand or before more expensive “peak power” is pulled from the grid. –Provides every consumer with a “smart meter” and the option to participate in a “time of use rate” so ratepayers are savvy about how much electricity they are consuming at any given time and about the substantial price difference if they do energy intensive jobs like dishes and laundry “off peak” instead of “on peak”. 

–Provides rebates for the purchase of energy efficient air conditioners and refrigerators to cut energy bills. –Provides rebates of up to 50% for families and businesses who want to use solar power. 

Utility lobbyists are swarming the Capitol urging legislators to vote against the Governor’s Energy Independence Strategy. They are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to hike rates by double and triple digits. Make your voice heard today. Put a stop to crushing rate increases; urge action on HB 1201/ SB 716 TODAY! 

Contact your legislator today!

Get more information on the Energy Independence Strategy

From Katrina R. Hartman, Office of Public Liaison Email

PRESIDENT BUSH has nominated Dr. James W. Holsinger Jr. to be the next Surgeon General of the United States. A paper written by Dr. Holsinger, in 1991, titled “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality” makes the nomination questionable.
 
Since 1969 Dr. Holsinger has worked in the Department of Veterans Affairs, as Undersecretary for Health, Chancellor of the University of Kentucky Medical Center then Kentucky’s Chief of Health and Family Services, a post he held until December 2005 when he returned to the University of Kentucky.
 
His activity in the United Methodist Church has earned him the ire of gay groups across the country.  As a member of the church’s Judicial Council, Dr. Holsinger voted with the majority to boot a lesbian from her post as a minister and to allow ministers to deny church membership to gay men and lesbians. He prepared “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality” in which Pathophysiology was defined as “abnormal function.”  The six pages of prurient fascination written by Dr. Holsinger paints all gay men as promiscuous beings who are riddled with disease because of various sex acts, which he describes in detail.  To prove gay sex was unhealthy and unnatural, he wrote, “In fact, the logical complementarity of the human sexes has been so recognized in our culture in the form of naming various pipe fittings either the male or female, … depending upon which one interlocks within the other.”
 
Senators meeting with Dr. Holsinger need to determine whether his judgment of sound science and best medical practices has improved since 1991.  It is not our place to tell religions what their beliefs should or should not be. But that stricture does not apply when bigotry masquerades as science.

Legislation prohibiting discrimination on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression in housing, employment, and public accommodations was introduced in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives today. A press conference was held in the capitol to announce the bill’s introduction.

The bill, HB 1400, was co-sponsored by a record 70 members of the House. Similar legislation, SB761, was introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate in April with a record number of 22 co-sponsors. The Senate bill has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House bill is expected to go to the House State Government Committee where it has been assigned in the past.

Equality Advocates Pennsylvania, along with the Value All Families Coalition, worked with legislative allies to gather support for this amendment to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Alleghany) and Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh, Monroe, Northhampton), the prime sponsors of the House and Senate versions of the bill, spoke about the importance of this non-discrimination legislation in Pennsylvania. Rep. Babette Josephs (D-Philadelphia), the Chair of the House State Government Committee, addressed the need for education and hearings on this issue.

“This legislation is critical to thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pennsylvanians who are trying to work and have a roof over their heads. I urge the legislature to move this legislation forward. It is needed. It is fair. It is time,” said Stacey Sobel, executive director of Equality Advocates Pennsylvania.

“We are very encouraged by the record number of legislators who have signed on as co-sponsors of this bill and we think it is a good sign for future progress,” added Larry Frankel, legislative director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania.

Other speakers who support amending the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act included: Steve Glassman, Chair of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, which implements the law; Harrisburg City Councilman, Dan Miller, who was fired in 1990 because he is gay; Rev. Sandra L. Strauss, director of public advocacy, Pennsylvania Council of Churches; and Matt Yarnell of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Current Pennsylvania law provides basic legal protection against discrimination on the bases of race, color, religion, ancestry, age, national origin, handicap or disability, education and the use of a guide dog. Thirteen Pennsylvania municipalities have already enacted civil rights laws including protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. These municipalities are Allentown, Easton, Erie County, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lansdowne, New Hope, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Swarthmore, West Chester and York. State College also has an ordinance that only covers sexual orientation discrimination in housing. Approximately, seventy-five percent of the state’s twelve million residents live or work in communities that do not provide these protections. Twenty states in the country have similar laws, including our neighboring states of New Jersey, Maryland and New York.

The Value All Families Coalition is comprised of diverse organizations that support equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pennsylvanians.

by Equality Advocates Pennsylvania

ATLANTA -  Wilkinson County Superior Court Judge John Lee Parrott took a 7 year old girl away from her home, placing her in an over-crowded foster home, after he learned that she was being raised by a lesbian. Hadaway, a 28-year-old paramedic, first took in little Emma when the
biological mother, an over the road truck driver, asked her to raise and adopt her child. Hadaway cared for the child for almost a year, and was granted legal custody in 2006.  Several months later, the Wilkinson County  Superior Court Judge, John Lee Parrott, was about to grant Hadaway’s  request to permanently adopt Emma when he read the home study stating Hadaway was living with her partner of seven years; he abruptly changed his mind. 
 
In December Hadaway moved to another county, and re-applied for custody; Parrott ordered the girl be taken from her.  In January 2007,  Parrott denied the adoption, ordering Emma sent back to her biological mother.  Hadaway met with the biological mother at a truck stop to hand over the girl.  Seeing how distraught Emma was at being taken from Hadaway, the biological mother again insisted Hadaway raise her.  Parrott found Hadaway and her attorney in contempt of court, sentencing them to jail time and a fine.  In early April, a Bibb County Judge returned the child to Hadaway. In May, the ACLU appealed Judge Parrott’s contempt order and argued that Wilkinson County DFCS must allow Emma to return home.
 
 
“… I’m grateful to DFCS for recognizing that Emma’s biological mother, … always had her best interests at heart in wanting her to live with  me,” said Elizabeth Hadaway,  “The law serves families best when focused on the needs of children, rather than the prejudices or assumptions of adults,” said Gerry Weber, Legal Director of the ACLU of Georgia, who represents Hadaway.  “Children like Emma shouldn’t have to fear being torn away from their homes and families just because their parents are gay,” said Ken Choe, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s national Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project.  More information on the case, Hadaway v. Fowler-Dennard, can be found online at here.

We need more candidates open to make public comments like this and not be afraid to say it. The LGBT issues is one of the most important issues so let not pretend it is not that important in order to be united. Link Barack Obama statement on Pride.
 
CHICAGO , IL– U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement to commemorate Pride Month.
“Pride Month is a reminder that while we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do.”
“Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It’s about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect.”
“It’s time to turn the page on the bitterness and bigotry that fill so much of today’s LGBT rights debate. The rights of all Americans should be protected — whether it’s at work or anyplace else. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” needs to be repealed because patriotism and a sense of duty should be the key tests for military service, not sexual orientation. Civil unions should give gay couples full rights. And those who commit hate crimes should be punished no matter whether those crimes are committed on account of race, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”
“This Pride Month, let’s make our founding promise of equality a reality for every American.”