PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With LGBTQ issues among the most divisive ahead of Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial election, voters face a stark choice this November.
According to polling by GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer advocacy organization, 84% of LGBTQ people are registered to vote.
What are the highest priorities among LGBTQ voters? There is a range of perspectives across Philadelphia’s queer community, but personal safety ranks high among issues motivating LGBTQ voters.
“Politicians should really focus on the voice of people most at risk,” said Kendall Stephens, a Philadelphia-based transgender activist who pushes for LGBTQ rights. “And I say that in the interest and defense of equity, because too often in this world, the voices most marginalized are the voices most silenced.”
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With recent data showing hate crimes rising in Pennsylvania, she says voters need to choose a candidate who has consistently supported her community.
On LGBTQ issues, the candidates for Pennsylvania governor differ greatly.
Republican candidate Doug Mastriano has criticized same-sex marriage. He opposes nondiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation. He has warned that "aberrant sexual behavior" is part of an assault on the military. Mastriano has attacked efforts to discourage conversion therapy — which purports to turn queer people straight, and has been rejected by the American Psychological Association.
As a state senator, Mastriano voted for a bill that would ban education on gender identity and sexual orientation in elementary school classrooms, likening LGBTQ-inclusive education to “grooming” and “indoctrination.”
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With Mastriano’s support, Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled legislature recently advanced a bill that would limit what teams transgender athletes can play on. He has also pledged to restrict transgender people’s access to restrooms, and he frequently and publicly misgendered the state’s former secretary of health, Rachel Levine, who is transgender.
Shapiro’s opinions and behavior have been the mirror opposite of Mastriano’s. He has called for expanding hate crime laws to cover attacks on LGBTQ people, and has said he would put his full support behind housing, schooling and employment protections.
The attorney general has said he supports banning conversion therapy for minors.
And Shapiro has supported same-sex marriage since at least as far back as 2013, when he was chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.
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For Gen Z voters like 21-year-old Jordan Hunter-Fidalgo, the importance of this race became even greater after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Legal scholars have noted the same logic used to undo constitutionally protected abortion could be used to overturn constitutionally protected same-sex marriage.
“With everything that happened with abortion, and the amount of hate crimes happening, that it could be taken away from us at any second — and that’s really scary,” Hunter-Fidalgo said.
Mastriano opposes legal abortion without exception. In 2019, he said women who get an abortion should be prosecuted for murder. He has since downplayed how his personal views would affect state law.
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Still, for Andrea Rose Cardoni, another young voter and student, hearing views like that from a candidate has been a wake up call.
“I mean, it affects me deeply, and I think young voters and Gen Z are really listening and watching, seeing what adults are setting for them and are willing to take on the task to support everyone affected by this ruling,” Cardoni said.
Leaders in the city’s LGBTQ community, too, fear that rolling back Roe v. Wade was just the tip of the iceberg, and feel there’s more hostility toward them in Republican-held state legislatures such as Pennsylvania’s.
However, the LGBTQ community is not a monolith.
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Rob Jordan, with the local chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, which represents the interests of LGBTQ conservatives, has declined to explicitly support Mastriano. However, he said, his group would support candidates who prioritize pro-business and anti-crime measures.
“We’re looking for the right gubernatorial candidate, and that means addressing conditions that are essential to our safety and security,” Jordan said.
For some in the community, the issues of most importance are not the big talking points. Charles Protje has owned Charlie’s Salon on 12th Street in the Gayborhood for more than 20 years, and he says he has seen a recent jump in instances of mental illness and drug addiction among LGBTQ youth.
“The LGBT youth on the streets on drugs have really nowhere to go,” Protje said. “They’re focusing on rolling back women rights, gay rights, instead of focusing [on] the gay youth that need help. They’re going in the opposite direction instead of moving forward.”
Election Day is Nov. 8.
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