On Valentine's Day, February 14, 2011, I introduced a bill legalizing civil unions for gay and lesbian couples in Pennsylvania with 42 co-sponsors, up from 32 last year. These forty-two co-sponsors represent 21% of the House. Several of the co-sponsors of the civil unions bill joined me and Senator Daylin Leach--sponsor of a marriage equality bill--at a press conference in the Rotunda: Reps. Pam Delissio and Michael O'Brien of Philadelphia, Eugene DePasquale of York, and Dan Frankel of Pittsburgh. Senator Larry Farnese of Philadelphia, a co-sponsor of Senator Leach's bill, also spoke at the press conference.

Harrisburg serves up an especially vexing mix of sweet and sour at tonight's June Philly For Change Meetup, that you won't want to miss.

The Sweet: State Senator Daylin Leach's Legislative Aide Zach Hoover on how we can support his boss's historic/heroic/just plain fair proposed Marriage Equality Bill.

The Sour: The annually-gruesome summer PA budget war is aiming for Armageddon this year, with school budgets, SCHIP funding, and whole state parks on the block. Silver lining: House Appropriations Secretary/Good Guy Josh Shapiro is asking PFC for input.

Reason Not to Miss: Dan U-A graciously agreed to come out and talk about Draft Sestak and make the case for the campaign.

This morning, with a nod to humanity, equality and dignity, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously overturned the state's ban on LGBT marriage:

The Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution.

....

Equal protection under the Iowa Constitution is essentially a direction that all persons similarly situated should be treated alike. Since territorial times, Iowa has given meaning to this constitutional provision, striking blows to slavery and segregation, and recognizing women’s rights. The court found the issue of same-sex marriage comes to it with the same importance as the landmark cases of the past

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