Pike County communities divided over LGBTQ+ Pride Month

Four communities have shown support, but the issue remains contentious in others.

• By Haley O'Brien/WVIA

John Hellman is leading the effort to ask Pike County officials in every municipality to recognize June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month, after the county’s commissioners failed to do so last year.

“By going township to township, not only have we been able to create relationships with our local officials, but we’ve been able to see … that there is a tremendous amount of support here,” Hellman said.

Hellman said they sent the proclamation to all 13 municipalities in the county to send a message to the commissioners this year.

So far, four communities have shown support, but the issue remains contentious in others.

Commissioners won’t vote

In 2023, the Pike County Commissioners tabled the vote 2-1 and never acted on it again.

At a Board of Commissioners meeting on May 15, Commissioner Ronald Schmalzle said they will not vote on it this year.

“I don’t think that we’re at a time where this will be on the agenda,” Schmalzle said. “I really appreciate what the group has done and I think going to the municipalities is a great step.”

“I am disappointed that it will not be on the agenda,” Commissioner Christa Caceres said at the same meeting.

“I personally believe that we have a unique role as the highest office in the county to set a tone, and that tone should always be that everyone that lives here has a right to feel affirmed, seen and respected,” Caceres added.

No vote in Milford Township

In Milford Township, the Board of Supervisors did not vote on it May 20 after tabling the vote at the May 6 meeting.

Patrick McCarthy, a Milford Township resident, was the only person who spoke against the proclamation.

“I explored many aspects of this movement and from what I see and from what I understand, there is no true reason to forge ahead to celebrate people that are unsure of themselves,” McCarthy said. “This movement has been a deterioration of the family and has caused the opposite of unity, health, and wellbeing.”

McCarthy also questioned why veterans get one day of recognition when the LGBTQ+ community wants a month.

“I think we should seriously consider honoring our vets for more than just a day,” he said.

“We created our own EMS Appreciation Month, and I don’t see why we wouldn’t consider a veterans appreciation month,” Milford Township Supervisor Rachel Hendricks said. “And I can’t think of anybody who would be in opposition of doing that.”

Resident Jan Lucciola encouraged her local leaders to take a step towards creating a more inclusive society.

“Being LGBTQ is not a choice,” she said. “The choice to keep it to yourself is. And that tends to happen when you’re in a family or a community that makes you afraid to express yourself, often leading to suicide.

“Maybe bringing down some of those risks is worth thinking about because those people do have to face a lot more challenges than those of us who are straight,” she added. “And don’t think that saying no is not saying no to someone in your family who is facing that same crisis of wondering where they stand.”

Additionally, the township secretary said they received 16 emails in support of the proclamation.

Supervisor Rachel Hendricks proposed a vote, but the motion did not get a second.

Four communities approve resolution

Westfall, Lehman, and Porter Townships, as well as Milford Borough, are the four municipalities that showed recognition for Pride Month.

David Twiss, a supervisor in Westfall Township, wrote a letter to Milford Township’s supervisors to encourage them to follow their lead.

“Given all the overwhelming obstacles growing up gay throws at this group, I believe the least we can do as leaders is give them a month of recognition in the hopes that we can all learn to live our lives as we were born,” he wrote.

25% of LGBTQ+ teens reported attempting suicide, compared to 6% heterosexual teens, according to the American Psychological Association.

Twiss said these findings in his research helped him get his colleagues on board.

“If one month of laying off the hyperbole and the hate can save one life then I think it’s worth it,” he said.

Hellman, who organized the effort in partnership with Delaware Valley Action!, VIP, and the Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms, remains positive.

“There have been townships and elected officials that have said no, but they’ve done so in good faith,” he said. “We have to give a lot of people the benefit of the doubt that they have not been exposed to LGBTQ history or issues, they may not have anyone in their family … I want to give them the opportunity to have conversations with us, to learn issues, to hear our perspective and to make sure they understand why the disinformation is wrong.

“We’ve been able to be victorious in four different places. We made history, this never happened in the history of Pike County,” he said. “And this is a new benchmark for what we can do next year and the year after that.”