- Lehigh County introduced new wide-ranging non-discrimination legislation for housing, education, health care and public accommodations
- It would create protected classes not included in state law — such as sexual orientation, gender expression, disability, age, weight, citizenship status and marital status
- Legislators appeared supportive but indicated there likely would be amendments before passage
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lehigh County commissioners have introduced wide-spanning non-discrimination requirements for employment, housing, education, health care and public accommodations in the county.
The legislation arrived Wednesday out of the county's Human Relations Advisory Council, which was formed in 2021 to address issues of discrimination as it might occur in the county.
It consists of 11 community members and Commissioner Zach Cole-Borgi, who sponsored the bill.
"It's been a long time coming, and I'm just very excited to be able to get this on the agenda."Commissioner Zach Cole-Borgi
"It's been a long time coming, and I'm just very excited to be able to get this on the agenda," Cole-Borghi said.
The bill would dissolve the Lehigh County Human Rights Council upon passage and create a new 7-to-13-member volunteer Human Relations Commission to adjudicate complaints.
The bill defines acts of discrimination as any exclusion, denial, intimidation, coercion, difference or segregation in treatment because of an individual’s membership in a protected class.
'It's been a long time'
The legislation would come into effect for all municipalities except the cities of Allentown and Bethlehem on Jan. 1, or 30 days after enactment, whichever would be later.
For Allentown and the part Bethlehem in Lehigh County, it would come into effect 15 months after enactment "provided that no action has been taken by the governing body of either of those cities to be excluded."
It states that each individual city could opt to be governed or excluded from the potentially expanded coverage of the ordinance if passed.
Both cities currently have their own non-discrimination ordinances.
"It's been a long time since Allentown's law [amendment] passed, which was 22 years ago to add sexual orientation and gender identity. There's a lot of people in the county, it's very significant, and they should be protected from discrimination. And I think this county agrees with that."Commitee Vice-Chairwoman Liz Bradbury
Committee Vice-Chairwoman Liz Bradbury said the legislation was developed by the group over the past two and a half years in the hopes it could protect more people in the county from discrimination than had been legally protected before.
"It's been a long time since Allentown's law [amendment] passed, which was 22 years ago to add sexual orientation and gender identity," Bradbury said.
"There's a lot of people in the county, it's very significant, and they should be protected from discrimination. And I think this county agrees with that."
Areas that would be covered
Bradbury, co-founder of the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown, is a long-time activist in the region and has been involved in crafting similar legislation in other municipalities.
Protected classes under the new legislation include actual or perceived race, ethnicity, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.
Also, genetic information, marital status, familial status, GED rather than high school diploma, physical or mental disability (non-job related), relationship or association with a disabled person, source of income, age (over the age of 35), height, weight, veteran status, citizenship or immigration status, use of guide or support animals and/or mechanical aids, or domestic or sexual violence victim status.
Areas that would be covered by the protection include:
- Hiring, referring for hire, promoting and training, including apprenticeship programs
- Membership in employee or labor organizations
- The advertisement, sale, lease, rental, financing or zoning of housing
- The provision of health care
- Education
- Rendering service in places of public accommodation
It states that the ordinance would be an exercise of the police powers of the county under the protection of the public welfare, prosperity, health and peace of the people of the county.
It also states that when there are conflicts with other laws, the provisions establishing the higher standard for the protection of health, safety and welfare will be followed.
Exemptions are available for not-for-profit, mission-driven religious, educational, fraternal or charitable organizations or associations that require an employee's adherence to that mission or where membership requires a bona fide occupational qualification.
Other ways to protect groups
Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is not explicitly banned in the state, but Gov. Josh Shapiro has called to expand non-discrimination laws to protect LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians statewide.
Such a bill also was passed in the state House of Representatives in May before being referred to the Republican-controlled Senate, where it has not yet been considered.
Pennsylvania currently has formal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people via a regulatory change enacted under then-Gov. Tom Wolf in 2022, but legislative codification has not been enacted.
Statewide, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act governs the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission that investigates and acts on complaints of discrimination in housing, employment and public services.
In Pennsylvania, laws such as the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age (40 and over), sex, national origin, familial status (only in housing), handicap or disability and the use, handling, or training of support or guide animals for disability.
Retaliation for filing a complaint, opposing unlawful behavior, or assisting investigations also is included in the proposed legislation.
The state Attorney General's office does state that under state civil law, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has issued guidance stating that it will accept complaints of LGBTQ+ discrimination as complaints of discrimination on the basis of sex and that the office will also accept such complaints under civil rights enforcement.
In response to the limited statewide coverage, many municipalities and counties have moved to enact their own non-discrimination legislation explicitly codifying LGBTQ+ and other protections.
Among those municipalities are Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Reading, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
The local laws offer protection to about a third of Pennsylvania’s population in access to housing, employment and public accommodations, according to the state attorney general office.
'Not just to talk about it'
Before the ordinance comes up again in November, however, questions and potential changes remain to be discussed.
Commissioners and attendees voiced concern about the interactions with Allentown's law having different definitions, as well as the state and federal coverages.
"It seemed to me like an extremely all-encompassing approach," Commissioner Bob Elbich said.
"What I would like to see if possible is to take the ordinance as it's written and indicate how this differs from current state and federal laws.
"Because my concern would be are we just overlaying something on top of processes that already exist?"
Commissioner Jeffrey Dutt said he believes that it "goes too far." He said he thinks the advisory council went beyond the expectations of its original established mission.
"There's many categories in there that would, in my opinion, be difficult to enforce," Dutt said, "That's just my opinion on that."
Elements that could be amended
Commissioner Brace countered, saying the council was meant to explore non-discrimination action, but noted that there are elements that could be amended before the next read of the legislation.
He said the process to arrive at a final amended document could take some time, and encouraged concerned parties in the government to submit requests so that it could be worked into legal language.
"I think that we want to protect people on the basis of race, on the basis of gender expression and identity and sexual orientation. It's very important that that's not enshrined in state law. And we want it to be enshrined in our administration."Frank Kane, Lehigh County director of community and economic development
"I think that we want to protect peoples on the basis of race, on the basis of gender expression and identity and sexual orientation," said Frank Kane, Lehigh County director of community and economic development.
"It's very important that that's not enshrined in state law. And we want it to be enshrined in our administration."
He said that from members of the administration's point of view, there will be recommended changes to the legislation before it comes before council again.
"I don't think that we're all that excited about regulating people's height, weight, things like that," Kane said at the meeting via video conference.
"Some of the things that are in here, there's some language that we find a little problematic in the staffing of the commission."
Borghi emphasized that the goal is to get the legislation passed, "not just to talk about it" and asked to do what they can do to get it together.
