The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday that would establish anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people. H.B. 2103 narrowly squeezed through the chamber in a 101-100 vote.

Republicans against the bill reportedly worried that its vague definitions could conflict with religious freedom (the bill includes religious liberty protections). They specifically worried that the classification of “public accommodations” would allow trans women and girls to use the facilities that align with their gender identities.

“If the whole point here is to protect people in special classes, we just denigrated all young women,” state Rep. Craig Williams (R) said during debate over the bill, as reported by City & State Pennsylvania.

State Rep. Scott Barger (R) claimed the legislation is “weaponizing degeneracy against our faith communities.”

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State Rep. Mark Anderson (R) ranted that the bill would “give uninhibited equal access to biological boys or biological girls to use the bathrooms they want, to participate in whatever sports that they want.”

But Democrats stood steadfast against these arguments.

“Today, at its core, is about fairness,” said queer state Rep. Jessica Benham (D), “the right to exist as your full self without fear that you’ll lose your job or your apartment. I believe that Pennsylvania is better when it’s fairer, and I know that most Pennsylvanians believe that, too.”

Benham also said that as a queer woman, she knows “what it’s like to experience discrimination, to be told I’m ‘less than,’ that I’m a degenerate, that I am perverse – and treated like that too… I believe that both the right to be free from discrimination and to practice one’s religion can coexist.”

Gay state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D) pointed out that lawmakers have spent decades trying to enshrine these protections into law “because Pennsylvanians are experiencing this discrimination and they want it to end.”

“Pennsylvanians are recognizing that they don’t have full access to their God-given inalienable right to be treated with dignity and respect,” Kenyatta said, “to have full access to this American Dream.”

Kenyatta was the main sponsor for the original version of the legislation and recently spoke to Fox 43 about its importance: “You have a system right now in Pennsylvania where you can marry the person that you love on Sunday, and then if you go to work and put up that photo of your wedding, somebody could still take away your employment, your access to a family sustaining job. I think to anybody who’s listening to that, that sounds wrong.”

The new version of the legislation stemmed from a bill proposed by state Rep. Ben Waxman (D), who sought to prevent white supremacist organizations from establishing “whites only” communities in the state. He was motivated after a group called Return to the Land attempted to do so in Arkansas and voiced plans to expand.

The bill originally addressed “race, color, national origin or ancestry” and was ultimately amended to include gender identity and sexual orientation, which Waxman said he was “thrilled” about.

The bill passed along party lines, though a single Democrat, state Rep. Frank Burns, also voted against it.

The legislation now moves on to the state Senate, which is currently under Republican control.

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