Leach and Farnese Propose Same Sex Marriage Bill

State Senators Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery) and Larry Farnese (D-Philadelphia) are proposing a bill that would allow Pennsylvania to offer full and equal marriage rights to same-sex couples in the Commonwealth as well as recognition of same-sex marriages conducted in other states. The "Marriage Equality" bill is appropriately proposed at the beginning of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) week. Leach says that allowing same-sex couples to marry will not hurt anyone. "Once people can get married everyone else goes on living their lives the way they did before. Which is why the longer that this goes on, the less controversial it will become; to the point where a few years from now we are going to wonder what all the fuss ever was." If passed, the bill would not require religious institutions to perform or recognize any of the marriages. Farnese thinks marriage equality is inevitable in the future, "It is my hope that years from now people will react with disbelief when they hear that there was a time when it was against the law for some people to marry the person that they love, or that people suffered any discrimination because of their race, creed, or sexual orientation." Leach agrees that times are changing in the country, and says that the proposed legislation would dissolve all of the barriers same-sex couples face when trying to build a family.