Equality Forum to honor Pa. Attorney General Kane over marriage stance
Pa. Attorney General Kathleen Kane supports same-sex marriage. (Nathaniel Hamilton/for NewsWorks, file)
This weekend, the Equality Forum will present Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane with its Distinguished Equality Award.
The LGBT rights organization chose to honor Kane for refusing to defend Pennsylvania’s statute banning same-sex marriages.
“Certainly in Pennsylvania, the polling is relatively close in terms of support for same-sex marriage and therefore what she did was very, very principled and courageous and now other state attorney generals have followed her lead,” said Malcolm Lazin, Equality Forum’s executive director.
Kane, who said in July that she considers the marriage law a violation of the state Constitution, would not defend it in a lawsuit brought by gay couples and the ACLU.
She took criticism from those who said it was her duty as attorney general to defend Pennsylvania in legal matters. The defense is now being handled by the office of Gov. Tom Corbett.
The Equality Forum also will present an International Role Model Award to the National Hockey League for its proactive policies to make its clubhouses welcoming. The league has no openly gay players.
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