Tell Senator Eichelberger: No one "allows" us to exist.

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I am appalled at your statement on WHYY on Friday, June 19 that you are “allowing” LGBT people to exist. 

No one “allows” lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or transsexual people to exist. No one “allows” straight people or white people or black people or Latinos or Asians or Jews or Christians or people with disabilities to exist. 

No one in the United States has the power over anyone else’s existence.

Your statement betrays the bigotry behind your attempt to ban marriage equality in Pennsylvania.

I demand that you apologize to all LGBT people and all of the people of Pennsylvania for your insensitive remarks.

We will deliver the petiton to Senator Eichelberger in the next few days. 

 
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Here’s a partial transcript of Eichelberger’s remarks.  Times are approximate.

You can listen to the whole debate at: http://www.whyy.org/91FM/radiotimes.html

21:15
Leach:   How would he [Eichelberger] want to encourage stability in gay couples?

Eichelberger: I wouldn’t.  I mean they can practice whatever sexual activity they like to practice, but there’s no reason to give them special consideration.  We don’t give them special consideration in Pennsylvania for any reason.  Why in the world would we allow them to marry?

22:05
Leach:  How would he want to encourage stability in gay couples?

Eichelberger:  There is no reason to encourage that type of behavior in Pennsylvania.

24:20
Eichelberger:  That comes back to the definition of family and that’s where we differ.  We can call all kinds of things families.  I mean, we can say a 3 party marriage is a family, or 7 or 8 people or marrying younger and younger children these days .

25:00
Host:  Are you saying that by their very nature homosexual relationships are dysfunctional?

Eichelberger:  [Pause] Ummmm.  I guess I would say that.  I would say that.

38:50
Eichelberger:  This changes the definition of marriage, allowing same-sex, and then like I said, 5-10 years from now it’ll be polygamy, marrying younger people, it’ll be whatever…It won’t be a 6 year old, it’ll be a 15 year old, then it’ll be a 14 year old, then it’ll be a 13 year old.

49:40
Leach:  Should our only policy towards [same-sex] couples be one of punishment, to somehow prove that they’ve done something wrong?

Eichelberger: They’re not being punished. We’re allowing them to exist, and do what every American can do.  We’re just not rewarding them with any special designation.