‘There’s no doubt that there is a rise in hate in our state and in our country’
For the first time in several years, the Lehigh Valley is represented on the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. That’s a significant asset for the region during these tumultuous times.
Last month’s massacre of 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and the killing of two black grocery store customers by a white man in Kentucky are the latest examples of how much hatred exists in our world. Thirteen people lost their lives because of their religion or the color of their skin.
Those are just the most-horrific recent examples of prejudice. Plenty of people face other trials, ranging from slurs to exclusion, every day based on their race, religion and sexual orientation.
The Human Relations Commission is a non-partisan board that promotes equal opportunity and enforces non-discrimination laws. Its newest member is Adrian Shanker, executive director of the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown.
I spoke with him last week about his position and how it can help the local community. Shanker has experience serving on such a board, having been on the Allentown Human Relations Commission from 2009 to 2012. He also has helped other communities, including Bethlehem, create human rights ordinances.
Our interview was wide-ranging and we discussed some subjects more than once. His answers are grouped by subject and are not always in chronological order.
Q: Why is the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission’s role important?
A: All Pennsylvanians deserve to live in a state where if we experience discrimination in our lives, we have an appropriate way to file a complaint and to find recourse for that discrimination. I’m really proud that the governor nominated me to this seat because I’m currently the only out LGBT person on the commission, and as an LGBT person who is also Jewish, I understand cultural experiences where parts of our community are not always treated fairly.
In terms of the first part, promoting equal opportunity for all Pennsylvanians, it’s about ensuring that we can celebrate the diversity of our state. And that’s something I’m very passionate about, ensuring that our diverse communities are heard. In terms of the enforcement of our civil rights laws, earlier in the (Gov. Tom) Wolf administration, this commission made a decision to start taking cases relating to sexual orientation and gender identity as sex discrimination, and that’s something I’m very supportive of because it means that for the first time in Pennsylvania, LGBT people who experience discrimination that’s based on sex discrimination can find recourse as well.
Q: How will your role help people in the Lehigh Valley?
A: As someone who lives here in the Lehigh Valley and that runs an LGBT community center, if I’m hearing trends in the community, then I can share that with my colleagues on the commission. And an example of what that looks like is, in York there has been a series of town halls that the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has led. I believe they were called No Hate in Our State town halls. So if we learn about trends in parts of Pennsylvania, we can make sure that the state commission can be involved in helping to defuse tensions between communities or ensure that historically marginalized communities are treated equally and have their voices heard.
Q: Does the commission’s role become more significant in light of recent events?
A: There’s no doubt that there is a rise in hate in our state and in our country. There’s seemingly people coming out of the shadows that were there before, right, we can’t pretend that they weren’t, they were there before but they feel emboldened. And I think that it’s our responsibility to make sure that Pennsylvania is open to all, that people know that if they experience discrimination that they can fight it and that if there’s incidents of hate in our communities, that that’s not welcome here.
Q: How can hatred be addressed?
A: We can’t allow the haters to control our narratives and our lives and our stories. As a Jewish person who wears a kippah all the time and who is active in my Reconstructionist synagogue ... I wouldn’t stop going to synagogue. And in a community where hate might be more present than seen before, we can’t stop doing what we do. After Orlando (the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016), LGBT people needed to not stop going to gay bars. We can’t let those who are so far on the fringes of hatred control our movements and our lives. And we have to call it out. We can call out hate. And the one other thing we can do is we can tell our stories.
Q: Is there a reason for such hate?
A: I think that the reason for hate is that people have been taught to hate. And I don’t think that there is a reason that people should be taught to hate.
Q: What are your thoughts on the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting?
A: In my Jewish tradition, we’re taught that we build this world from love. And I think in this moment of an attack on a synagogue, the first thing that came to my mind is those words, build this world from love. For people who feel very concerned after this past week, overwhelmingly, most Pennsylvanians are embracing of all kinds of differences and that we can’t let the sometimes very vocal minority of haters control the actions and the ways in which we exercise who we are.
A longer version of this Q&A can be found at www.themorningcall. com/opinion.