Erie Leaders Pass Resolution Creating Pennsylvania’s First ‘LGBT Sanctuary City’

City council members Ed Brzezinski (L), Jasmine Flores (2L), Michael Keyes(3L), Chuck Nelson (3R), Mel Witherspoon (2R) and Maurice “Mo” Troop (R) debate whether to adopt a resolution that would declare their intention to create a "sanctuary city" for LGBT individuals in Erie, Pa., on July 19, 2023. Courtesy of Dr. Tony Ruffa

Elected leaders in Erie, Pennsylvania, have voted to declare their community an LGBT “sanctuary city.”

The move this week comes as an apparent response to a push by local parents to have sexually explicit books removed from the community’s public libraries.

Though social media rumors swirled of a forthcoming move to enact an ordinance designating “sanctuary city” status, the city has put forth a less binding measure instead. Leaders passed what’s known as a resolution stating their intent to create a sanctuary city, but without legislation to enforce it.

Talk of the controversial plan began after Erie County Executive Brenton Davis, a Republican, yielded to parents and removed books they'd argued were inappropriate for children, said Dr. Tony Ruffa, from Erie.

In addition to sexually explicit content, the books included stories promoting LGBT lifestyles, and parents didn’t want the books available to their children, Dr. Ruffa told The Epoch Times.

That brought conflict to the community of about 94,000 on the banks of Lake Erie.

“Because they [the books] were removed, there is an uproar in the LGBT community,” he said.

In protest of a recent push to remove overtly sexual books from public school classrooms and school libraries, a child holds a sign that reads "Ban Guns Not Books" at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee on March 13, 2023. Dan M. Berger/The Epoch Times

Erie is Pennsylvania’s fifth-largest city and has been careful to cater to LGBT interests.

It has an LGBT Council to advise the mayor and a perfect score of 100 on Municipal Equality Index of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest political lobbying group for LGBT issues.

But city leaders felt that wasn’t enough.

Dr. Tony Ruffa, of Erie, Pa. Courtesy of Tony Ruffa

The Erie Times-News reported that city council member Susannah Faulkner had said she'd propose an ordinance to make Erie a “sanctuary city” for LGBT-identifying individuals.

Ms. Faulkner did not respond to a request from The Epoch Times for comment. Though she’s an elected official, her Twitter page is private.

Erie city attorney Ed Betza told The Epoch Times in an email that he was aware of the talk of a “sanctuary city” ordinance but hadn’t been asked to draft or review any such measure.

An ordinance is a piece of legislation established by a municipality. A resolution represents a formal statement of the city council’s opinion on a matter. It doesn’t have the same force as an ordinance. 

New ‘Queer’ Resolution

City leaders read the resolution to make Erie an LGBT sanctuary city at the city council meeting on July 19, then voted to adopt it.

The Erie city council president, vice president, and all five city council members are Democrats.

The resolution urges city police to minimally enforce any “hostile human rights law” that would impact “access to health care and education” for LGBT individuals.

It cites the Trevor Project, an LGBT activist group, for statistics about LGBT mental health issues.

The resolution goes on to urge the city’s police chief to make enforcement the “lowest priority,” in the event the county, commonwealth, or federal government passes a law “that imposes criminal or civil punishments, fines, or professional sanctions on LGBT individuals or any person or organization that serves the LGBT community.”

Erie’s mayor, Democrat Joseph Schember, appointed the current city police chief.

The resolution mentions “health care and education” as human rights endangered by sexual-orientation and gender-identity legislation.

Around the country, some states have taken action to remove books with graphic sexual references from children’s libraries and classes. In some places, classroom instruction on gender ideology has been restricted.

Attendees at the "We Say Gay-nesville" rally in Gainesville, Fla., to listen to speakers opposed to the Parental Rights in Education bill on March 19, 2022. Natasha Holt/The Epoch Times

In Florida, for example, a recently expanded Parental Rights in Education law bans age-inappropriate sexual instruction and instruction on sexual orientation in schools before 3rd grade.

Critics of the bill, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022, have misleadingly dubbed it the “Don’t Say Gay law” even though there’s nothing in the law preventing children from speaking about gay loved ones or posing questions to teachers about sexual orientation.

Many laws across America also ban child sex-change surgery.

Dr. Ruffa now plans to introduce his own resolution to the county government for consideration that would suggest Erie County is a sanctuary for children, where they won’t be exposed to sexually explicit books or children of the opposite sex in their changing facilities.

The Epoch Times reached out to Mr. Schember and Mr. Davis for comment but didn’t receive a response.

Not Safe Enough Already?

It’s surprising to Dr. Ruffa that Erie wasn’t already considered enough of a sanctuary for the LGBT community, before the passage of the new resolution making the position official.

“Erie’s a very tolerant town,” he said. “We have always welcomed and loved the LGBT community. As a physician, I’ve always treated them with love and respect and supported them.”

Erie’s former school board president, Tyler Titus, is a woman who identifies as a man, who currently is running for city council.

And Pennsylvania is considering further legal support for those who identify as LGBT.

In March 2023, House lawmakers passed HB 300, which would prohibit discrimination by sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity in providing employment, housing, or public accommodation.

To become law, the bill still would have to pass the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania Senate.

“There’s never been an issue” of discrimination against the LGBT community in Erie, Dr. Ruffa said. “The issue now is they’re trying to impose their values, and their beliefs, and their politics on us through ordinances, through city council law.”

Encouraging gender confusion hurts children, Dr. Ruffa said.

“Studies show that if they are allowed to go through this gender dysphoria by themselves, 90-95 percent of them come out of it OK and remain in their same gender,” he said.

But radical gender ideology encourages children to get irreversible puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical procedures, Dr. Ruffa said. Those cause side effects and mutilations that last forever, he said.

Target offers children's books and gingerbread houses as part of their Pride display at a store in Texas on May 24, 2023. Darlene McCormick Sanchez/The Epoch Times

“Nobody is criticizing that [LGBT] orientation,” Dr. Ruffa said. “The issue is putting this in front of kids and promoting it very forcibly in the public. And it’s obvious they’re trying to push those values onto our kids at an early age, and then a lot of these kids get confused.”

The Epoch Times contacted the Greater Erie LGBT Alliance, a local LGBT rights group, but received no comment by publication time.

The Spread of ‘Sanctuaries’

“Sanctuary cities” have increased in number recently.

Leaders in those cities typically state that they won’t follow state or federal laws they believe to be unconstitutional or immoral. It’s not a new idea.

For years, leaders of some U.S. cities have chosen not to enforce federal laws against illegal immigration and city leaders dubbed their locales “sanctuary cities.”

Some conservative-run cities picked up the same tactics, signaling an intent to protect gun rights in their version of sanctuary cities.

Some locales with a majority of pro-life officials have voted to created sanctuary cities for the unborn.

Now, the “sanctuary city” movement presents a new challenge for federal and state authorities.

In 2017, then-President Donald Trump punished sanctuary cities that refused to enforce immigration laws by withholding funds from them.  

Those cities received a reprieve under President Joe Biden, who overturned Mr. Trump’s order.

The Manhattan skyline towers over New York Harbor on Oct. 16, 2017. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Although Erie is Pennsylvania’s first sanctuary city for LGBT individuals, it’s following similar moves by Austin, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; and New York.

In these cities, current local authorities have announced their intention to keep child sex-change procedures legal.

“This is an important first step in Kansas City’s commitment to trans and nonbinary people,” Merrique Jenson, founder of Transformations KC, said in a written statement after the vote to make the city an LGBT sanctuary.

“I look forward to trans leaders and Kansas City working together to address the health disparities in our communities and ways we can have sustainable funding and programming reaching all trans people.”

As states ban child sex-change surgery, LGBT sanctuary cities may become an important new political battleground.

Dr. Ruffa says he'll hold community leaders accountable for what he sees as a choice not to protect children, he said.

“We need to protect our kids in this city and make it a sanctuary city for kids.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.