Newtown Township Passes Revised Love is Love Resolution

On March 11, 2020, the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors (BOS) passed a "Love is Love" resolution in support of LGBTQ + minority youth by a unanimous bipartisan 5-0 vote. Joining me in voting in favor of the resolution, which I authored and put forward, were Board members David Oxley, Phil Calabro, Kyle Davis, and Dennis Fisher.

The Road to Victory was a Bumpy One

On January 27, 2020, State Senator Steve Santarsiero proposed to designate the day after Valentine's Day – February 15 – as “Love is Love Day” in Pennsylvania in support of local lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning (LGBQ) youth.

“February can be a particularly difficult time for our LGBTQ+ youth,” said Senator Santarsiero in an impassioned speech on the Senate floor. “It is a time when most of our society celebrates love; February 14, Valentine’s Day. But for LGBTQ youth they often feel sidelined on that day because of a feeling of a lack of acceptance, a lack of understanding, a lack of empathy.”

Unfortunately, that resolution never made it to the floor for a vote (Read “State Senator Steve Santarsiero’s “Love Is Love Day” Proposal Shot Down in PA Senate”).

Considering that Newtown Township was the first Township in Bucks to pass an anti-discrimination ordinance specifically to correct for the absence of federal and PA state laws that protect the civil rights of LGBTQ citizens, I thought it was appropriate for Newtown Township to pass a similar resolution that would send a message to the State Senate.

The first attempt to pass a Newtown love is love resolution patterned after the one put forward by Senator Santarsiero, was at the February 26, 2020, BOS meeting. It failed by a 3-2 vote (read “The Day That Newtown Township Failed to Show Love for LGBTQ+ Youth”). Supervisor Dennis Fisher and I cast the lone “yea” votes. Chairman Phil Calabro joined Board colleagues Kyle Davis and David Oxley in voting “nay.” All three said they felt the document was “exclusionary.”

Supervisor Davis said, “I’m not fond of the idea of a specific day for a specific group. I think that’s exclusionary.” He favored declaring love is love in all its forms. Supervisor Oxley concurred. “Love is something that we extend to all our neighbors…not particularly one individual or group,” he said. “There’s a lot of people out there besides the group under discussion that also suffer from loneliness and depression that can also benefit from a love is love day.”

Recognizes First Ever “Love is Love Prom” for LGBTQ+ Youth

Both the original and the revised resolution were inspired by the first ever “Love is Love Prom” for LGBTQ+ youth and their allies on February 15, 2020, hosted by the Rainbow Room LGBTQ Youth Organization at the Michener Art Museum.

After the first resolution failed to pass in Newtown, the Rainbow Room as well as Rise Up Doylestown organized a “Speak Out for LGBTQ+ Youth” protest at the March 11 BOS meeting. The Facebook Event announcing this protest clearly stated the displeasure of the groups:

“What a disappointing action on the part of the three Newtown Township Supervisors who voted AGAINST a resolution to celebrate and uplift LGBTQ+ youth on Love Is Love Day, which was proposed in solidarity with Planned Parenthood Rainbow Room's first ever Love Is Love: A Queer Prom for All.

“ALL are invited to show up and speak OUT, to let our elected officials and the community know that no one can vote against LOVE and against support for our LGBTQ+ youth and get away with it,” said the notice. “Their vote against this simple resolution of support sends a dangerous message to our LGBTQ+ youth AND to all youth and our community as a whole.”

Before the meeting, I had discussions with Marlene Pray, the Rainbow Room’s Director & Founder, Sen. Santarsiero, Yardley Borough Council Chair David Bria, Newtown supervisor Dennis Fisher, and others. On the basis of those discussions, I wrote a revised “Love is Love” resolution that I hoped would be more palatable to the Newtown supervisors who voted "nay" to the first version yet still achieve the ultimate goal of the LGBTQ+ community; i.e., Newtown Township recognizes the amazing Rainbow Room prom and supports and values LGBTQ + minority youth in our community.

It worked!

The final revised resolution, which you can find here, does not establish a specific day to celebrate “Love is Love” and does mention Valentine’s Day. It also is more inclusive and includes “minority” youth. As with many government proclamations, it is not perfect and won’t please everybody.

Although it took several tries and a modified version to get a resolution passed, I believe the process raised awareness and educated the public regarding the unique trials and tribulations of LGBTQ + minority youth.

I included the “+ minority youth” in the resolution because (1) according the Peace Center, LGBTQ + minority youth in our community face harassment, violence and discrimination, and (2) Supervisor Oxley, who is African-American, noted that his son was called the “n” word by a classmate in school and expressed how difficult it was for him as a father to deal with that (listen to his comments below).

LGBTQ Youth, Parents, Their Allies, and Elected Officials Speak Out!

Before my revised resolution was presented to the Board for a vote, the supervisors heard from several LGBTQ+ youth from The Rainbow Room who spoke in favor of passing a #LoveIsLove resolution. There is no doubt that the impassioned comments from these young people, their parents, Marlene Pray, as well as elected local officials, made a big impression upon the supervisors.

Comments of PA State Senator Steve Santarsiero:

Comments from Yardley Borough Council Chair David Bria, who inspired Newtown Township's Anti-Discrimination Ordinance:

A mother of a 13 yo transgender son, who said how proud she was of her son, urged Newtown Township Supervisors to pass the Love is Love resolution.

There were many more comments from local LGBTQ+ youth and their high school friends. You can view the entire streaming video of the Board of Supervisors meeting - including all the comments made to the Board - on the official Newtown Township website here.

Reading of the Resolution and the Vote

All in all, there was much love expressed at the meeting!