Jun 21, 2019 5 min read

With its establishment as a home-rule municipality in 1976, Peters Township adopted an administrative code that includes a policy against discrimination in employment practices, housing and public accommodation.

Four decades later, township resident Julie Cantrell is pursuing an update of the policy’s language to add “gender identity or sexual orientation” to a list that now includes the likes of race, age, religion, national origin and political affiliation.

Members of township council, though, are waiting to make a determination. At its June 10 meeting, council voted 5-1, with Monica Merrell opposing, to table Cantrell’s request to put the proposed policy change on an agenda until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on some relevant cases.

“Municipalities are not in the position to try and define protected classes,” Councilman David Ball said. “That’s a federal and state function. It’s before the Supreme Court, so whatever they decide to do is what we’re going to have to do.”

In April, the court agreed to hear cases from New York and Georgia to decide whether workplace protections under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 apply to gay people, and another from Michigan with regard to transgender people.

Peters Township’s employee handbook does contain “a statement that actually is a bit more expansive than the language that was in the code or ordinances,” township manager Paul Lauer told council.

For example, people with disabilities cannot be discriminated against, in accordance with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.

“Because protected classes can be somewhat dynamic, it also has a catchall that says, ‘any other characteristics protected by applicable federal and state law,'” Lauer said about the handbook statement. “My interpretation of that, given the guidance that the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has given us, right now that does include gender and sexual orientation.”

Merrell said the language in the handbook and policy against discrimination should be consistent, and Lauer agreed.

“I do think the language that is in the handbook, that refers to any other characteristics protected by applicable federal and state law, is something that ought to be included” in the policy, he said.

Cantrell sent an email to Lauer June 3 requesting a council agenda item to amend the policy.

“It would then read: ‘No person in the employment of the township, or seeking admission thereto, shall be employed, promoted, demoted or discharged, or in any way favored or discriminated against because of political opinion or affiliation, or because of race, creed, color, age, sex, religion, national origin, gender identity or sexual orientation,'” the email states.

During the audience comments portion of the meeting, Cantrell asked Peters officials to consider posting a nondiscrimination statement on the township website and publications such as calendars.

Cantrell suggested a statement which is based on one posted by Shenango Township, Lawrence County.

“Peters Township is committed to providing an environment that’s free from discrimination in employment and opportunity because of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, marital status, disability, veteran or draft status, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation or age,” her suggested statement read.

Cantrell said it would not be an ordinance or anything township officials would have to enforce.

“It’s a statement saying that, as a township, we don’t discriminate,” she told council. “If we were able to do that, then I could see placing a stall or a hold on the nondiscrimination ordinance until we are able to get more information and maybe research that a little bit more.”

Resident Carolee Ketelaar, who had spoken in support of Cantrell’s requests at previous council meetings, said she agrees with the township taking such a measure.

“I think that’s really important for people of all ages, all types of people, to know, that they are welcome here, whether they live here, whether they shop here,” Ketelaar said.

Cantrell first approached council March 11 about changing the language of the nondiscrimination policy.

“In Pennsylvania, municipalities are legally empowered by the state to enact local LGBTQ equality laws and policies,” she said at that meeting. “The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act of 1955 allows for cities, townships, boroughs, counties to pass nondiscrimination ordinances which exceed the state law.”

She quoted information from the website of the LGBTQ youth advocacy organization Pennsylvania Youth Congress, which currently states:

“As of April 2019, at least 55 of Pennsylvania’s 2,562 municipalities have passed LGBTQ-inclusive local non-discrimination ordinances. The residents of these municipalities amount to over 33 percent of Pennsylvania’s overall population (U.S. Census, 2015 estimates). Pennsylvania has the most number of LGBTQ-inclusive local nondiscrimination ordinances adopted of any state in the nation.”

Mt. Lebanon was among the municipalities, which adopted its ordinance in 2017.

Peters Township Council revisited Cantrell’s request April 22, when Lauer said concerns about discrimination against certain individuals are addressed best through federal and state laws, and the appropriate role for the township is to refer residents to appropriate agencies at those levels.

Solicitor John Smith, who researched the topic for a report to council, agreed and recommended against pursuing an ordinance to change the nondiscrimination policy.

At council’s May 28 meeting, Ketelaar asked that a task force be formed to investigate a nondiscrimination ordinance. Cantrell stated her agreement and requested that Smith’s report be made public.

She also has started a change.org petition calling for an LGBTQ-inclusive local nondiscrimination ordinance in Peters Township.