A Long Battle for First-class Citizenship

Sam Deetz,
Manheim Township

I just finished reading the column by Sarah Dailey Brabson.  After reading it, I feel at least a little bit more upbeat than I have felt all week.  It seemed to me that all my resolve to continue my forty-year-long battle for the rights to first-class citizenship was crashing down right in front of my own eyes, right here in Lancaster County. 

I, for one, remember an earlier battle in front of Lancaster City Council and the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners, in August, 1991, when, in front of a angry, hostile crowd of misguided folks in the then new Southern Market council chambers, the County Commissioners split the City/ County combined Human Rights Commission in half because they could not stomach the city’s decision to include LGBT people in its Human Rights code.  I can remember only a few times in my life ever feeling such a strong, pervasive sense of being despised as I did on that hot summer night nineteen years ago!  Ever since, I have remembered that awful hunted feeling, and have vowed to myself to see that night’s action undone sometime in my future.  Further, I vowed that I would help remind future elected officials and others, as well, of the terrible injustice done that summer by our elected representatives in local government!  

The nineteen years from that time to now have gone by, and the two commissions have existed separately, and I might say, the County Commissioners seemed to be OK with two taxpayer sponsored commissions within Lancaster County - duplicating services - because of their queer decision that long ago summer evening.  Now, they are using duplication of services and taxpayer costs as justification for their intended action.  Does this not seem a bit incongruous or even hypocritical?

I thank Sarah Dailey Brabson for speaking out, because, as I said, I felt like everything was going against us again.  The Lancaster Intelligencer Journal / New Era reported last week that our elected Lancaster City Council took a vote on their official Human Rights stand before going before the County Commission with their recommendation.  They were unanimous in urging the County not to abolish the LCHRC, but somehow, they could not agree on a statement to support the addition of LGBT people as a protected class. Three of our seven council members, voted not to press the county board for full inclusion!  I was hurt, deeply, reading this article, and horrified to think that these three city council members were all people I had attended meetings with as a member of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee. I had respected them and upheld them in the past for their individual accomplishments, and for their own personal struggles in the various human rights venues.  I could not believe that these wonderful people were letting me, as well as our whole LGBT community down!  For what reason?

I am not one to let something like this pass without facing those individuals whom I feel have done harm to our Democratic principles and pursuits, by letting any one segment or individual down when they are most in need of a boost up.  So, when I chanced upon one of the council members at another event a few days later, I went up to him and asked him why he had taken the stand against full inclusion of LGBT citizens in our HRC.   I was told that it was because the “LGBT cause was hurting us”.  I could assume “us” meant all of us in the Human Rights movement, or all of us in the Democratic community, or -- all of “us” who identify as “not heterosexual”?  I was told by this council member that I am not recognized as a spokesperson for the LGBT community, so, since whoever is recognized as such did not vocally object to the vote, I had no standing to complain.  The recognized spokesperson(s) were not stupid, I was informed, and he/she/they realized that omitting Human Rights protection for our community at this point was understood to be a wise political move.

I cannot imagine any other oppressed group allowing this treatment!   I cannot help but speak up and call these folk to task.  I have worked for the election campaigns of these individuals, as a Democratic Committee person, and with faith in their principles to respect all individuals in the pursuit of equality and fairness.  Do they not realize that as leaders in the community at large, their actions give license to others make it easier for them to feel it is OK to leave out any group of people just because it looks like a tough stand to go up against bigots?  Do they not realize that by backing down instead of standing up, they diminish their standing in their own communities or that they may cause supporters to lose faith in “Justice for All”?

For the record, I have been in this battle as an openly gay individual since 1974.  Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp appointed me to his first-in-the-nation Council for Sexual Minorities in 1976. That same year, along with close allies, I helped organize the first ever Gay Lobby Day to our Harrisburg Legislature.  I am with my partner of 34 years and have lived in Lancaster County since 1976.  I am a precinct leader and member of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee.  I am far from perfect, but I am no novice. 

Comment on this Commentary - Comments should be directed to Ken Ralph, Editor of LCDC Media at his email address. Comments will be posted here.

Sam Deetz

The opinions expressed here are those of the author alone and are not the official position of the
Lancaster County Democratic Committee.

Comments should be directed to Ken Ralph, Editor of LCDC Media at his email address.