The Republican chairman of a key state House committee isn’t planning to schedule a hearing on a bill to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The measure was referred to the State Government Committee, which is made up of 15 Republicans and 10
Democrats, and its ranking Democrat has prodded the chairman for a hearing.
But Representative Daryl Metcalfe of Butler County said he believes the majority of his panel opposes the bill.
"It’s interesting that when they’re in the majority they’re not able to pass their priorities, but when they’re in the minority they want us to pass them for them," he said.
The measure has been pushed for years by the state’s most prominent advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pennsylvanians.
Its Democratic sponsor recently indicated a record number of lawmakers have signed on to support it.
A February Franklin and Marshall College poll showed support for gay marriage among surveyed Pennsylvania voters has ticked into the majority, with 52 percent of respondents favoring legal marriage for gay and lesbian couples, compared to 41 percent opposing it.
