By Ezra Blumsack, Student Reporting
I learned about LGBTQ rights in Pennsylvania from Representative Nikki Rivera at the advocacy workshop on the 23rd of October. She spoke a lot about different governors and some bills that were passed that helped get the LGBTQ community their rights. She also mentioned that she would only support bills that will help the people that reside in her area of jurisdiction, which is Lancaster County. This topic of LGBTQ rights matters to me because my brother is currently gay, and I think that it was also important because it is good to know about the rights of your friends or family members. We can all use this information to make sure that everybody knows about their rights and what laws protect them. Some examples of rights are HB 231, which decided that Pride Month would be June, and how Governor Milton Shapp was the first governor of Pennsylvania to listen to the LGBTQ community and made Pennsylvania the first state to ban discrimination against the LGBTQ community, as well as how Governor Josh Shapiro came to the Lancaster Pride parade. All of this is important for not just me, but anyone else who identifies as LGBTQ in Pennsylvania. Share this with anyone else who identifies as LGBTQ in Pennsylvania.