Lecture on GLBT Equality

By Kyle Lawson

On February 7, Stacy Sobel Esq. gave a lecture entitled GLBT Equality in the Current Political, Social, and Legal Landscape. The lecture was attended by members of Allies and the Law and Justice Society, who co-sponsored the lecture, as well as other members of the Gettysburg community. Ms. Sobel is a leading authority on the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. She is the current Executive Director of Equality Advocates Pennsylvania and a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Law School where she teaches a class entitled “Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Law.”

Ms. Sobel gave a brief summary of how the Gay Rights Movement has evolved over the past several decades. From how the concept of a man loving a man or a woman loving a woman was incomprehensible in 1955, to the first Gay Right’s March in 1970 when Ms. Sobel, at five years old, knew what gay was. Sobel mentioned two Supreme Court cases which have affected the Gay Rights Movement. The first, Bowers v. Hardwick in 1986, stated that there were no privacy rights for gay sodomy, and that any who engaged in sodomy were breaking state laws. The decision from this case set precedent for other cases by making homosexuality a crime. The second major case which has impacted the Gay Rights Movement was Lawrence v. Texas in 2001 which overturned Bowers v. Hardwick. In Ms. Sobel’s words that case treated gays as real people who were involved in relationships. Lawrence v. Texas was unusual as it overturned a decision made less than twenty years ago.

Ms. Sobel talked about the status of homosexuals today, referring to anti-discrimination policies in Pennsylvania that protect sexual orientation and gender identity. Nationally only seventeen states have laws prohibiting the discrimination with only a couple including gender identity. In Pennsylvania only fourteen municipalities prohibit discrimination including; Scranton, Allentown, York, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Erie (which gives protection for both homosexuals and transgender and was the first to pass such laws).

Ms. Sobel discussed some of the current problems facing homosexuals and transgender persons. Most of the calls Equality Advocates Pennsylvania receives are for job discrimination and family law. Because gay couples do not receive the benefits that come with civil marriage they are faced with problems involving insurance, taxes, and custody rights. In 2001, Family Law stated that gay people could adopt. However, since then more has been added to give both parents rights, including: in loco parentis (in place of parent), child support in case of break up, and second parent adoptions. Even so there are still problems, for second parent adoptions a home study is conducted by Child Protective Services to make sure that the home is alright. Medical powers of attorney are needed in order to make medical decisions for a child if second parent adoption has not yet been done.

If gay couples are not married they must have powers of attorney in order to make medical decisions. There are also problems with inheritance. If a will is not made out and a couple shares a house the surviving partner can lose the house. They must also pay an inheritance tax which has forced surviving partners to sell their property in order to pay. In one case a man and his partner had co-ownership of a house. When one died his parents received the house due to an absence of a will, and his parents told the partner he could remain there if he paid them the value of his half of the house.

Transgender persons are not as protected by the law. Only a few of the states and municipalities that have discrimination laws protect transgender persons. They are disproportionately homeless and jobless. In urban centers transgender women are harassed by police because they are associated with prostitution due to discrimination in finding jobs. Ms. Sobel recounted a case involving a transsexual man who applied for a job with the Philadelphia Library System. There were eight openings with three hundred applicants taking the civil service test. He placed in the top three, but never received a call for an interview. What he found out was that the library system thought he was being fraudulent because two different names were listed. Since the law against discrimination in Philadelphia included gender identity he had to be called in for an interview because of his score, and is still working for the library system happy to have a job.

One of the final things Stacy Sobel talked about was the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy. Over the past ten years the opinion of there being openly gay servicemen serving has changed. The United States and Turkey are the only members of NATO which do not allow openly gay service members to serve. During the testimony for the passing of the policy, Bowers v. Hardwick was used to justify the passing. Even though a study by the Rand Corporation, one of the most conservative think tanks, found that there was no proof that having openly gay service members would have any negative impact on morale and readiness. The policy has been shown to hurt the military. In order to get more troops scores needed for the entrance exam have been lowered, and people with criminal records are being let it. Meanwhile, Arabic translators, pilots, and other highly trained and skilled personnel have been dismissed at the cost of millions of dollars.

Despite the backlash that occurs with each step forward for the Gay Rights Movement Stacy Sobel is optimistic about the future. In order to move forward more diversity training and education are needed. She believes that within forty years gay marriage will be allowed. More and more religious institutions have been coming out to show their support. The Gay Rights Movement has been moving forward at an unprecedented speed, but as Stacy Sobel said “while things are better, they’re not perfect.”