This morning, Pennsylvania state representatives Brian Sims and Steve McCarter introduced a bill to bring marriage equality to Pennsylvania:
State Reps. Brian Sims and Steve McCarter, both Philadelphia Democrats, will announce the introduction of the Pennsylvania Marriage Equality Act during a news conference today at 10 a.m. in LOVE Park. Despite staunch opposition from Gov. Corbett and conservatives, the legislators said they are encouraged by recent action in the state, and that more than 30 lawmakers have signed on to the bill as co-sponsors. “It was really in June when Rep. McCarter and I, who’ve been talking about this for a while, took the lay of the land and found our colleagues were ready to support this issue,” Sims said. “We’ve been seeing this growing support, so it’s the right time.”
It is indeed the right time, as Think Progress reports on the release of a new poll which shows that 54% of Pennsylvanians support marriage equality:
In the latest Franklin & Marshall College poll, 54 percent of Pennsylvania residents said they support same-sex marriage. But at the same time, poll director Terry Madonna says, voters do not identify the issue as a priority:
“Given the health of the economy, given the other economic and fiscal concerns that voters have, I don’t think it’s likely to move center stage as one of those issues that will see a lot of pressure on the legislature in the short run.”
The pollster believes that marriage equality is most likely to come to Pennsylvania through one of the court cases currently making its way through the system.
