In 1975, Governor Milton J. Shapp signed an executive order that government jobs can no longer discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. This made Pennsylvania the first state to have such an ordinance, as other states may have made an ordinance on the basis of race, while leaving out sexual orientation. Gov. Shapp established himself throughout his term as a stringent ally for LGBT+ rights, talking with gay activists such as Mark Segal from Philadelphia and Joseph Burns.

Despite the protection for government jobs, this ordinance did not extend to the rest of the business world. Local governments had to decide for themselves whether to establish the same protections in each of their sectors. Some did it quicker than others, with Harrisburg leading the charge in 1983 and York following in 1998 to establish anti-discrimination ordinances on the basis of sexual orientation. Some took even longer, with towns like Gettysburg and Huntingdon only approving of these ordinances in 2020.

References

Burton, William, and Barry Loveland. Out in Central Pennsylvania : The History of an LGBTQ Community. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2020.