Openly Gay Republican Bryan Tate Runs for Office in York

Openly gay Republican Bryan Tate is running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to represent the 95th district, which includes the city of York and the surrounding areas. He is being endorsed by former Pennsylvania Congressman, Todd Platts. In his term as congressperson for the 17th district, Platts endorsed the Student Nondiscrimination Act (SNDA) and the Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA.) Tate previously served as Platts’ chief of staff.

If elected, Bryan Tate will become the third openly gay representative in Pennsylvania, and one of the few openly gay Republicans in state legislatures. There are less than 100 openly LGBTQ individuals serving in state legislatures nationwide, and the majority of those are Democrats. There are currently two openly gay Republicans in state legislatures across the country, including Mike Fleck of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, who publicly came out in December of last year.

Bryan Tate is running in a special election to replace former Representative Eugene DePasquale, who left his position to become Auditor General of Pennsylvania. He is running against Democrat Kevin Schreiber, and Green Party candidate Bill Swartz, both of whom support marriage equality. Tate will likely face an uphill battle in a district which has had Democratic representation for the past twenty years. In fact, several LGBTQ groups have endorsed the Democratic candidate, Kevin Schreiber, who also has the support of several labor unions.

Do you think LGBT organizations should support out candidates, or candidates regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity?

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