HERALDSTANDARD.COM | SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2013
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Frankel: Momentum building for gay discrimination ban By Natasha Lindstrom For the Herald-Standard
HARRISBURG — State Rep. Dan Frankel is pouncing on the chance to use a dispute between an openly gay House Democrat and staunch conservative to fuel support for his anti-discrimination bill. “As ugly as it was, I think helps motivate and energize our efforts to get some change in Pennsylvania,” said Frankel, D-Allegheny, who co-chairs the legislature’s LGBT Equality Caucus. Rep. Brian Sims, D-Philadelphia, is blasting Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, for blocking his attempt to discuss the U.S. Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage during a session on the House floor. Meanwhile, Metcalfe is accusing Sims of attacking a lawmaker’s right to voice his personal views in the press. On Wednesday, a day after the Supreme Court deemed the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and overturned California’s gay marriage ban, Sims told the House speaker he wanted to comment on the
historic developments. But when the freshman lawmaker got up to speak, Metcalfe and at least one other legislator objected. House rules allow members to veto a fellow member from speaking under “unanimous consent.” The full-fledged controversy didn’t erupt until Thursday, after Sims found out Metcalfe told WHYY-FM that he withdrew his consent because he believed what Sims had to say would have been “open rebellion against God’s law.” “To cut off a gay person from exercising their constitutional rights on the House floor because they might offend your personal religious beliefs, for me that is the height of egregiousness in the statehouse,” Sims said Friday afternoon, when he was pondering a push to have Metcalfe formally reprimanded. Sims called Metcalfe’s objection a “perfect example of discrimination on the House floor.” Metcalfe stands by his remarks. He said he objected because he was sure he and the majority of his constituents would find Sims’ remarks
offensive. “As a Christian, I could not sit here and be a part of his open rebellion against God, and that’s what his remarks would have done,” Metcalfe said. He further criticized Sims’ push to censure him based on his comments to the media as a political tactic “to silence people who have views that are opposite to what he believes.” Frankel denounces Metcalfe’s remarks — but also believes the comments have spurred momentum for House Bill 300, a proposal to ban housing and workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. “I think people were embarrassed for our chamber and outraged by the experience,” Frankel said, “but I think Daryl (Metcalfe) really exposed the ugly underbelly of some of the extreme opposition to recognizing the rights of the LGBT citizens and to the extent that that gets exposed, I think it helps us.” By Friday, 12 more House members had signed on as cosponsors of HB 300, including two more Republicans. A total
of 78 House Democrats and 11 Republicans are now backing the bill. The Senate’s equivalent version is co-sponsored by 23 Democrats and two Republicans. As it stands, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act prohibits discrimination on several grounds, including age, race, gender, ethnicity and religion. HB 300 would add sexual orientation and gender identity to that list. At least 21 states have laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and similar policies are in place at more than 100 employers and in 14 municipalities across Pennsylvania, according to the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. A federal bill targeting housing discrimination against gays was introduced in Congress on Tuesday. Frankel introduced HB 300 during last year’s session, but it never made it out of the House State Government Committee. Metcalfe serves as the committee’s chair. “I had one of my colleagues tell me we should bring it up
just so we can defeat it, but I don’t generally move bills that we have an intention on defeating,” Metcalfe said. “If a bill has merit and support, we’ll consider it.” Convinced he won’t get a fair vote with Metcalfe calling the shots, Frankel is holding off on re-introducing the bill in hopes he can get it assigned to the education, judiciary or labor committees instead. He’s also drafting a same-sex marriage bill, though he sees it as more of a “placeholder” for future debate. Sims hasn’t called for a formal censure against Metcalfe yet. He said he’ll be weighing his options over the next few days. He could seek formal action through an ethics committee recommendation or resolution. “He’s blowing a lot of hot air,” Metcalfe said Saturday. “He’s a liberal Democrat from Philadelphia and I’m a conservative Republican from western Pennsylvania, and we’re going to have a lot of disagreements, and if he takes them all this personally he’s going to have a hard time working in the legislature.”
Crime watch hears about suicide prevention, awareness Monument SMITHFIELD — Suicide is a community problem that can be prevented, said an official from Fayette County Behavioral Health Administration. Using the common flu as an analogy, Bethany Connors emphasized the significance of community involvement and knowledge. “With information and appropriate measures, you can avoid the flu. This information is something we should get to all members of a community,” she said at a recent meeting of the borough’s crime watch. Connors is involved in Community Awareness of Life and Loss (C.A.L.L.), which acts as the county’s suicide prevention task force through the county Behavioral Health Administration. C.A.L.L. was designed to take a comprehensive look at public health approaches and develop
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educational programs and policies. It is currently operating in its fifth year. “For a rural community, we’re seeing a lot that we wouldn’t normally see, including factors like child abuse and a lot of drugs,” Connors said. The 2011 coroner’s report indicated that there were 19 known deaths by suicide in the county, she said. Connors focused on target audiences for concern, including veterans and active duty military members and young adults. Numerous factors, including survivor’s guilt and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, play into their vulnerability, she said. “We simply are not doing enough for our military men and women. The tremendous suffering they go through — we need to do a whole lot more for
them,” Connors said, while referring to retired Staff Sergeant Earl Granville and the loss of his military brother to suicide. He recently appeared at a Joint Military Suicide Prevention Symposium in Annville that Connors helped develop. She also focused on school students. “Before it was just at school or on the bus. Now, it’s on their phones and at home — you can’t get away,” Connors said. C.A.L.L., along with nationwide task forces, has implemented antibullying measures, social media intervention and programs to educate and encourage young targets. Councilman Arley Stoker arranged for Connors to speak at the meeting. “We might not know who to call, where to go or what to do,” Stoker said about some reactions to suicide concerns. After reading statistics
on Fayette County, Stoker discovered Connors, who had frequently advocated for mental health awareness in her twenty years in the profession. Stoker and Smithfield Mayor Charles Cieszynski expressed an interest in having Connors back in the fall for special community training called Question, Persuade and Refer (QPR). Representatives would speak to the public on precautionary measures, tactics, statistics and resources. “It’s really the people in the community, in the schools and in the streets that make the difference,” Connors said. “Getting the information out there is the key.” Crime watch meetings are held monthly in the Smithfield Community Center. The council decided to forgo the July meeting and will resume in August.
evening in an apartment complex holding a shotgun without fear of being noticed — even if Continued from A1 it was Halloween. No, Marshall deduced, the away — the length of killer had to have known the garage — that hit in advance where Caric Caric in the upper left had been that night torso. and when she would be “She was the intended returning — roughly target,” Marshall said 1 a.m. That means the of the single mother of a killer may have been 10-year-old boy. someone Caric knew Marshall said the or had been around at men with Caric didn’t some point that evening. see anything as the And then there was killer fled. Marshall planning involved in said the men complied the murder. Marshall with police as they were said the murder was interviewed. Shotgun more or less conducted blast residue was taken as an ambush. As Caric off their clothing as eviand her friends were dence, and their statewalking single file ments taken to aid the through a passageway investigation. to get to her apartment, “They saw a figure someone came up from fleeing — they didn’t behind a corner of the expect it,” he said. garage and fired a shot. Marshall said Caric “The bad guy is was able to make it to waiting for them to The crime scene where Lori Lynn Caric, 32, was killed her apartment before come through — what on Oct. 31, 1993, on Monroe Street, Hopwood, is shown. she collapsed and died. Caric was walking home from a Halloween party with three does that tell you?” MarPolice arrived at the shall said. “Not only is friends when she was killed with a single bullet from a scene within minutes, he familiar with this, shotgun. State police said Caric stumbled into the open Marshall said, and door of her home, shown in this photograph, where she was he knows they’re there. scoured the area looking pronounced dead on the scene. Trooper John F. Marshall I mean, is he waiting for suspects and gathbelieves the suspect may be “a past boyfriend who started there? Did he follow ering evidence. They them? Did he get there stalking her.” Photo courtesy of state police. discovered a spent first? He knows they are shotgun shell lying some haven’t. necessarily teach at the coming down through in the grass near the “From the beginning, police academy. Marthis hallway. He’s right garage where the crime once they started conshall noted the killer there, waiting.” took place. Marshall ducting the investihad to know quite a Years after Caric’s said numerous people gation, it sort of fell in bit about Caric before autopsy was conducted, were interviewed, bethe lines of one of her pulling the trigger. He police are still intercause police theorized past boyfriends or acsaid the murderer had viewing people assothat the man who killed quaintances developed to know where she lived ciated with the case and Caric may have been a crush or was stalking and when she would be developing leads in this a past boyfriend or her,” he said. coming and going. whodunnit. acquaintance. And then there is Due to the public Marshall said work Marshall said several Marshall’s keen eye nature of where Caric on the case has been suspects were defor finding the smaller was shot, someone steady, and he hopes to veloped. Some have details of the case wouldn’t necessarily close the case as leads been eliminated and — a skill they don’t be standing there all develop.
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the basis of a lawsuit brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and an anonymous parent and student. FFRF and the two anonymous plaintiffs filed a federal complaint last year, asking for the removal of the monument at the school on the basis that it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. But speaker after speaker during the dedication argued the Ten Commandments are part of the foundation on which the nation was built. “Thank you for standing up for what America has believed in since its founding,’’ said the Rev. Barry Witt of Faith Bible Church. Dr. Phillip Hadad of the Westmoreland Patriots voiced concern that public displays of the Ten Commandments, Nativity scenes and the Cross have been taken away in recent decades. He told the crowd, “When the founding fathers wrote the Constitution, they didn’t have a problem with it.’’ The Rev. Peter Malik of Teens For Christ said, “If we take them away, we take away the foundation of our country.’’ Speakers included pastors, government officials and members of several grassroots organizations, who offered support for the fight against the lawsuit and the value of the Ten Commandments. Brad Geyer, Connellsville city councilman, noted, “I went to that school, and I passed in front of that stone every day, and I ask you, ‘What’s wrong with that?’’’ Angela Zimmerlink, Fayette County commissioner, talked about conditions in the world and said, “This is not a time to take down the Ten Commandments.’’ The Rev. Gary Schneider of North Ten Mile Baptist Church in Washington County said, “Let’s keep God in America. Let’s keep the Ten Commandments in America. They will serve us well. They always have.’’ Several speakers called out FFRF. Witt said, “The Freedom From Religion Foundation came to Connellsville, Pennsylvania, picking a fight and, yes, they got one.’’ David Show of the Fayette Patriots, said, “Let them try to remove it. We’ll put up 10 more, 20 more, 30-40-50 — whatever it takes.’’ Connellsville businessman Gary Colatch
noted, “Prior to their attack, how many of you remembered the monument was there? This is the first of 14 so far. They turned one into 14. I think they did a pretty good job.’’ The Rev. Robert Lubic, pastor of Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church and administrator of St. John the Evangelist and St. Rita Roman Catholic Churches in Connellsville, also supported the effort but noted, “What’s important is that we live those Ten Commandments.’’ Sister Denise Baker of the United Baptist Church asked spectators to stand and hold the hands of people next to them while she prayed to God, saying, “When everything else is gone, the only thing we’ll have left is your word.’’ Several speakers also spoke up for traditional values. The Rev. Mike Brown of Liberty Baptist Church in North Union Township, said, “We need to start standing up for what is right in this nation and elect men and women of God.’’ The Rev. Ewing Marietta, pastor of Liberty Baptist in North Union Township, noted he grew up in Dunbar and went to school in Connellsville before attending Liberty College and serving in the military. He mentioned his late son, Marcus Marietta, who played sports for the Connellsville Area School District and died from injuries following a car accident in 2009. This first monument was dedicated in honor of Marcus Marietta. Ewing Marietta noted, “Love these children because they are a gift from God.’’ Interviewed before the dedication, Tressler said, “The support they got for this is wonderful.’’ Dave Kuhns, current president, commented, “We stood for freedom of speech, and I’m proud to accept this monument that’s being donated back to us.’’ Timothy, Eagles chaplain, said, “I think it’s been great all along because of the support not only from the community but the counties surrounding us. I don’t see any issue with it. It won’t force religion on anybody. I went to school there, and I knew people who didn’t believe in God, and they didn’t take offense. I believe in God and country.’’ Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 21 in Connellsville conducted a 21-gun salute and played taps. They hosted a flagfolding ceremony and gave the flag to the family of Harry Springer, who fought in World War II.