From Spotlight PA (https://www.spotlightpa.org/):
Gov. Tom Wolf is backing a regulatory change that would formalize nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people while circumventing the legislature.
Under guidance released in 2018, a student, tenant, or worker at most businesses can file a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission against their school, landlord, or boss if they think they’ve been discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
A little-noted proposal supported by Wolf, which is up for final approval before a state regulatory board Thursday, would formally adopt that guidance.
Read the full report: Wolf backs regulatory change that would formalize discrimination protections for LGBTQ Pennsylvanians.
THE CONTEXT: In 2018, the state’s Human Relations Commission said it would adopt an expanded definition of sex based on federal court rulings to encompass sexual orientation and gender identity.
The new proposal would formally adopt a definition of sex based upon the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the court found 6-3 that existing federal law protected an employee from being fired just for being gay or transgender.
Even if the regulation is adopted, LGBTQ advocates are still urging state lawmakers to pass a bill to formally provide nondiscrimination protections to people based on sexual orientation and identity.
Pennsylvania is the only state in the northeast without such protections on the books.
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