It's a public policy debate that has sparked, sputtered and then re-ignited numerous times over the last 20 years in the General Assembly. I can recall covering similar legislative drives in the late 1980s and 1990s -- efforts that always ended in failure. Gay-rights supporters have found great resistance, particularly among Pennsylvania's more conservative and rural lawmakers, to grant them additional protection under the state's civil-rights laws.

Supporters this session are pushing a bill (H.B. 300) that would amend the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act to prohibit discrimination in housing, employment, education and public accommodations based on a person's sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, ancestry, age, sex, national origin, familial status and disability is banned already under the law.

We'll tackle the subject of gay rights this Friday night at 8:30 on Smart Talk on WITF-TV. Stephen Glassman, Chairperson of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, and Randy Wenger, Chief Counsel for the Pennsylvania Family Institute will join us.

On March 10, the House State Government Committee passed the bill and sent it to the full House for consideration and the measure has 79 co-sponsors this time -- two indications that the momentum for change could be building. The Pennsylvania Family Institute and other conservative groups have opposed the legislation arguing that it puts at risk clergy, religious ministries, schools, child care centers and, potentially, businesses owners with religious beliefs who have moral objections to hiring homosexuals, transgendered people and cross-dressers in the workplace. Maryland, New York and New Jersey lawmakers have banned discrimination against gays, as have 13 municipalities in Pennsylvania including Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Scranton, Harrisburg and York.

Glassman issued a press release this week urging House members to pass the bill. He wrote, "Ensuring that Pennsylvanians are free from discrimination is crucial, especially in difficult economic times .... Our statistics show that discrimination complaints rise sharply when the economy is in decline. As economic stresses increase and people look for someone to blame for their difficulties, frequently the targets are those who are perceived as different because they are minorities. Passing this bill would serve as a timely illustration of our commitment to protecting Pennsylvania's most vulnerable citizens and ensuring equal opportunity for all."

This week on Radio Smart Talk, Randy Wenger argued against the expansion. "A governmental mandate of this sort can create its own intolerance and particularly intolerance to persons' rights of conscience ... that may not be obvious at first. For instance, in New Mexico, the human relations commission there brought a claim against a photographer. The photographer did not want to photograph a same-sex union in that state because she felt like, based on her religious beliefs, that she would be advocating and supporting conduct that she disagreed with ... but she ended up being fined over $6,000 by the human relations commission in New Mexico for that decision," he said.

The Radio Smart Talk program on gay rights generated quite a bit of continuing on-line debate among our listeners. We'd like you to expand on that conversation by watching Smart Talk TV Friday night at 8:30 and sending your thoughts and questions to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .