Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania House passes LGBTQ rights bill
Measure faces uphill fight in State Senate
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on May 2 voted 102 to 98 to approve a bill calling for protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination, marking the first time such legislation has passed in either the state House or Senate in the 47 years since similar bills have been introduced.
Supporters have said the outcome of the bill, called the Fairness Act, is uncertain in the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania Senate, where the legislation is now headed.
āToday is a historic day, as we take a critical step to make Pennsylvania fairer,ā a joint statement released by the six Democratic House members who were the billās lead sponsors.
āThe Fairness Act is as simple as it is substantive,ā the statement says. āH.B 300 would protect LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians from facing discrimination and allow all individuals in the commonwealth to file complaints with the PA Human Relations Commission,ā it says.
āNow, we call on the Senate to quickly consider and pass this legislation and send it to Governor Shapiroās desk,ā the statement concludes.
Only two Republicans joined 100 Democrats in voting for the bill, according to the Philadelphia Gay News. The PGN reports that GOP opponents, among other things, brought up arguments that the legislation would require womenās sports teams to allow transgender women to play on those teams.
The gay newspaper noted that Pennsylvania is the only state in the northeast that doesnāt have a statewide LGBTQ nondiscrimination law. It reports that on the local level, about 73 municipalities in the state have passed LGBTQ nondiscrimination laws, but almost 2,500 municipalities that make up about 65 percent of the stateās population do not have such laws.
At least 22 states and the District of Columbia have enacted LGBTQ rights laws. Although LGBTQ rights advocates have called on the other states, including Pennsylvania, to pass such laws, activists have also pointed out the landmark 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., ruled that LGBTQ people are protected under the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964.
That law bans discrimination in employment and other areas based on a personās sex or gender as well as other factors such as race, religion, and ethnicity. In an action that surprised many legal observers, the Supreme Court ruling said LGBTQ people were protected under the sex or gender provision in the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Pennsylvania
Pa. state trooper in altercation with prominent LGBTQ leader
Celena Morrison pulled over on Philadelphia expressway, detained
The Philadelphia Gay News originally published this article and the Washington Blade republished it with permission.
BY LAUREN ROWELLO | Video footage uploaded to Facebook shows an altercation between a state trooper and two prominent Philadelphia LGBTQ+ leaders. Celena Morrison, executive director of Philadelphiaās Office of LGBT Affairs, was pulled over by a state trooper on the Vine Street Expressway on the morning of March 2 and later detained by police.
Morrisonās sister told PGN that Morrison was pulled over āfor not having their lights on while tailgating,ā which a video of the encounter that Morrison recorded confirms. Darius McClean, Morrisonās husband and acting COO of William Way LGBT Community Center, was present during the incident and was also detained.
āMy sister started recording when the officer became aggressive,ā said Morrisonās sister, who uploaded the video to her Facebook. It shows a portion of the traffic stop encounter. It is unclear what occurred before Morrison started recording. Morrisonās sister said that McLean was following his wifeās car in a separate vehicle at the time of the stop and pulled over behind her during the traffic stop.
Morrison told her sister the officer āpulled him out of the carā then Morrison got out of her own vehicle to explain that McLean is her husband.
āShe started recording when the officer pulled his taser,ā Morrisonās sister explained.
In the video, which is described in greater detail below, Morrison accuses the officer of punching her and drawing his gun on her. In the video, the officer says that both McLean and Morrison are āunder arrest for resisting.ā
Philadelphia Police confirmed that Morrison and McLean were taken to Philadelphia Police Headquarters at 400 N. Broad St. Morrisonās sister says the pair was processed, charged with disorderly conduct, and detained until approximately 9 p.m. on March 2.
āMy concern is over her safety since she is transgender,ā Morrisonās sister told PGN. She is especially concerned with āthe way the police officer charged at her for recording,ā which can be seen on the footage. One commenter replied to the video on Facebook, āThis is OUTRAGEOUS. This has to go straight to the governorās office.ā
What the video shows
The video begins with Morrison repeatedly stating, āThatās my husband,ā to the officer who is seen kneeling on McLeanās back as McLean lays on the asphalt in fetal position in the rain. The officer tells him to put his hands behind his back. McLean says, āI donāt know why youāre doing this,ā then frantically attempts to reassure Morrison by telling her, āItās OK. Itās OK.ā
Morrison repeatedly states to the officer, āI work for the mayor!ā McLean appears to attempt to shield his face with one arm in fear as the officer cuffs his other hand. The officer hits McLeanās hand with a closed fist before pointing to Morrison. The officer yells, āStay the fuck back!ā while moving McLeanās hands to his back to finish cuffing.
McLean pleads for the officer to stop then says, āItās because Iām Black.ā The officer appears to respond, saying, āItās not because youāre Black. Itās because you rolled up on me.ā
The officer then lets go of McLean and approaches Morrison, saying, āTurn around,ā before lunging toward Morrison with a grabbing motion. The camera is jostled at this time and points at the sky for the remainder of the footage. The officer yells, āGive me your hands or youāre getting tased!ā while Morrison and McLean can be heard calling out in distress.
The officer says, āStay right there!ā to which McLean replies, āI am! I canāt go anywhere!ā before trying to reassure Morrison again by saying, āCelena, itās OK baby.ā Morrison says she doesnāt know why this is happening and repeatedly states that theyāve done nothing wrong.
She then says, āHe just punched me. He just punched me.ā The officer appears to stand over McLean and Morrison as Morrison asks whatās going on and McLean cries out for help. The officer calls to dispatch that he has two people detained.
McLean says to the officer calmly, āIām just getting my glasses.ā The officer screams in reply, āLeave that right there!ā
McLean says more frantically, āI just need my glasses,ā and the officer shouts, āDonāt reach for anything!ā Morrison reassures McLean, āJust be still.ā
The officer says, āStay right there! You move, youāre getting taken down.ā
McLean is prompted to stand but says he canāt. Morrison says sheāll call the mayorās office once this is over. When she stands, she asks the officer to pick up her phone. The officer says loudly, āThis was a simple traffic stop because you didnāt have your lights on ā you didnāt have your lights on and you were tailgating.ā
McLean attempts to defend himself, āI wasnāt tailgating!ā and the officer repeats, āSimple traffic stop,ā to Morrison. The officer appears to tell McLean, āAnd I donāt know who you are, so I donāt need you rolling up on me.ā
āYou were about to tase me. You pulled your gun on me,ā Morrison says. āBecause you were fighting with me,ā says the officer, which Morrison is heard denying. The officer says that both McLean and Morrison are āunder arrest for resisting.ā
A response from Philadelphia and national leaders
Mayor Cherelle Parker released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that reads:
āāāEarlier today, a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper executed a car stop on the Vine Street Expressway in Philadelphia, reportedly for a Motor Vehicle Code violation. Celena Morrison, the Cityās executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, was in the vehicle that was stopped.
A video circulating on social media that depicts a portion of the incident is very concerning to me, and I will have no further comment until the investigation has been completed.ā
State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta addressed the incident in his speech at the Human Rights Campaign Greater Philadelphia dinner on Saturday evening. He emphasized the need for a thorough investigation.
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign ā a national organization that advocates on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community ā also underlined the need for a thorough investigation, underlining to PGN that important details often get missed in these kinds of situations. She retweeted the mayor, calling the incident ādisturbing.ā
In her speech, she said, āWhen Philadelphiaās very own executive director of the Office of LGBTQ Affairs, Celena Morrison, cannot even ride around the streets of Philadelphia without being harassed by law enforcement, we are in a state of emergency.ā
Tyrell Brown, executive director of galaei, accepted an award on behalf of the organization they lead and informed the crowd during their speech that Morrison and McLean had just been released from police custody.
Brown told PGN that leaders from across the LGBTQ+ community and allies were working to āensure that there is transparency and safety for these two very valued community members.ā
They said that this situation demonstrates that an official title will not protect people from mistreatment ā but that all people within the queer community need and deserve access to safety and support mechanisms without any barriers.
āThe seconds that we miss could be the determination between life and death,ā they said, highlighting the importance of working together to ensure that all members of the queer community can access resources that help promote safety and equity ā āthe same kind of decency and the same kind of reverence and respect that any other community deserves and has afforded to them.ā
The Pennsylvania State Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Philadelphia Police Department directed PGN to their public affairs office, which did not appear to be open on March 2. An officer told PGN, āI have no comment at this time.ā
This is a developing story.
Pennsylvania
Arrest made in connection with gay journalist Josh Kruger’s murder
Robert Davis is being held without bail
The suspect in the murder of openly gay journalist Josh Kruger, 39, was taken into custody Wednesday evening, a Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson confirmed.
Robert Davis, 19, of the city’s Point Breeze neighborhood, was arrested and is being held without bail.
On Thursday morning, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office said that they plan to charge Davis with murder, possession of instrument of crime, tampering with evidence and related offenses.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Davis sneaked through the window of his family’s South Philadelphia home Wednesday night after more than two weeks on the run and asked his brothers for help.
Davisā older brother, Jaylin Reason, told the Inquirer his brother appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol and was acting erratically. While trying to calm Davis down, Reason said, they got into a fight. He realized, he said, that the best assistance he could offer his brother was helping him surrender to police.
āI didnāt want him to keep living outside and going around and doing something to put himself in a deeper hole,ā he added.
Reason told the paper that he calmed Davis down, and then asked his other brother to call the police. Together, they went outside, sat on the steps, and waited for 17th District officers to arrive. Davis surrendered and was taken into custody.
In a series of interviews in early October with the Inquirer, Davisā family told the paper that a years-long sexual relationship involving drugs factored into the murder. Davisā mother, Damica Davis, and older brother are alleging Kruger commenced a sexual and drug relationship with the teenager four years ago when Davis was 15.
Damica Davis told the Inquirer that her son had been deceptive about the relationship with the journalist instead claiming that he was seeing an older white woman he had met online who worked for the government and the messages on his mobile from āJoshā he claimed were because āJoshā was the womanās gay brother.
Reporting on the arrest, the paper noted that Reason said Davis had said he wanted to tell police everything, including the troubling details that he and Kruger had been in a sex and drug-fueled relationship since Davis was just 15. But Reason told his brother not to say anything to law enforcement officials until the family got him a lawyer.
Davis was arraigned on the charges Thursday afternoon. A preliminary hearing has been tentatively scheduled for Nov. 13.
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia police issue arrest warrant for suspect in gay journalist’s murder
Josh Kruger killed inside home on Oct. 2
Lieutenant Hamilton Marshmond of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Homicide Unit told reporters on Oct. 6 that an arrest warrant has been issued for a 19-year-old man he said detectives believe was responsible for the shooting death of a gay journalist earlier in the week.
Marshmond stated that police are searching for South Philadelphia resident Robert Davis, who was acquaintance of 39-year-old Josh Kruger, who was found lying in the street outside his Point Breeze home on Oct. 2 suffering from seven gunshot wounds. Responding officers rushed Kruger to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Marshmond told reporters Kruger had been trying to help Davis, who was facing various troubles including homelessness.
āHe was just trying to help him get through life,ā Marshmond said.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Marshmond told reporters the motive for the killing remains under investigation, and itās unclear how Davis got into Krugerās home, which showed no signs of forced entry. He said video of Davis near the area at the time of the shooting, and tips from Krugerās friends and family about their earlier interactions led investigators to him.
Davisā last known address was on the 1600 block of South Ringgold Street, police said, just a few blocks from Krugerās home on the 2300 block of Watkins Street.
Marshmond said Davis was known to police and had been arrested before, but declined to elaborate on officersā earlier interactions with him. Court records show that Davis was arrested in August and charged with criminal trespassing and mischief, but the District Attorneyās Office withdrew the charges at a preliminary hearing the following month.
He warned that Davis āis considered armed and dangerous,ā and that anyone who sees him should not approach him but instead call 911. Those who have information that could lead police to him are asked to call (215) 686-TIPS (8477).
There is a $20,000 reward for information that results in his apprehension and arrest.
A celebration of life and tribute to Kruger has beenĀ scheduled for the afternoon of Oct. 29 at William Way LGBT Community Center.
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