Family Portrait: Steve Berman on LGBT publishing PAGE 35
Marriage in the Keystone State: Reactions, photos, stats and much more PAGES 6-9
What we’re reading this summer PAGE 29
May 23-29, 2014
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Vol. 38 No. 21
Pennsylvania says ‘I do’ By Angela Thomas and Jen Colletta angela@epgn.com, jen@epgn.com “Same-sex couples who seek to marry in Pennsylvania may do so, and already married same-sex couples will be recognized as such.” With those words, Pennsylvania became the 19th state in the nation to sanction marriage equality. In a highly anticipated ruling handed down Tuesday afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones 3d found that Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The following day, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett announced he would not appeal the ruling. Marriages are set to begin first thing Friday morning. Where things stand Jones did not issue an immediate stay — and actually prohibited the government from asking him for a stay — so samesex couples began applying for marriage licenses immediately across Pennsylvania Tuesday. However, there was a question initially of whether the state would try to halt the practice. Corbett answered that question late Wednesday afternoon. “Given the high legal threshold set forth by Judge Jones in this case, the case is extremely unlikely to succeed on appeal,” Corbett said in a statement. “Therefore, after review of the opinion and on the advice of my Commonwealth legal team, I have decided not to appeal Judge Jones’ decision.” In a joint statement, Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and Mark Aronchick of Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller applauded the governor for “letting the constitutional principles of freedom and equality ring throughout Pennsylvania by allowing loving same-sex couples to marry,” adding the governor’s “historic decision” will be an “enduring legacy.” The Philadelphia Register of Wills issued 18 licenses to same-sex couples Tuesday evening — after extending office hours — and another 20 just in the first hour-and-a-half of business Wednesday. PAGE 6
Wolf wins, Fleck may be out By Angela Thomas angela@epgn.com
Photos: Scott A. Drake
Western Pennsylvania businessman Tom Wolf won the Democratic nomination for governor in a landslide Tuesday. Wolf, the former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, captured 57.9 percent of the vote. He will face Republican Gov. Tom Corbett in the fall. State Sen. Mike Stack (D-Fifth Dist.) will challenge incumbent Jim Cawley (R) this November for lieutenant governor. In the gubernatorial race, Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz came in second with 17.6 percent of the vote, followed by state Treasurer Rob McCord with 16.9 percent PAGE 15