Boycott PA

This is, what, the second or third time Gov. Corbett has had to apologize for comparing gay marriage to something offensive? The hilariously depressing thing is that in this latest instance, he’s corrected his original assertion, that gay marriage is comparable to 12-year-olds who want to wed, by saying the more appropriate analogy would be a brother and sister who want to marry. What’s next — clearing things up by saying gay marriage is like setting puppies on fire?

Corbett’s comments just crystalize for me that fact that we are not going to be moving back to Pennsylvania. We moved to Delaware because it was more affordable but had half-anticipated moving back to our home state once we could, given that’s where a lot of family and friends are. But with the Keystone State’s continued fight against gay marriage, I think I’ll be keeping in touch with people from the First State. Steve and I did not exchange vows last April just to move back to Pennsylvania and have the commonwealth regard us as roommates.

I don’t feel welcome as a gay person in Pennsylvania, at least not by the government. In contrast, I do feel welcome in Delaware. My adopted state passed gay marriage with breathtaking speed and no drama. The legislature passed it the day we got home from our honeymoon, the governor signed it immediately and less than two months later, gay people were wedding at the courthouse. Philadelphia may hold the edge on Wilmington as far as the gay scene but at this point in my life, I need more than just a few bars and clubs with rainbow flags. I need the pride of commitment to my husband and legal protection for our union.

Of course, we do certainly feel welcome by our friends and family in Pennsylvania so it’s not like we’re going to stop speaking to anyone or dramatically refuse to set foot on PA soil. What I will be doing is not spending a dime more of my money than I have to in Pennsylvania. I’m not even going to give that government whatever pittance of a sales tax I would be spending there. I’m not going to refuse to attend a social function in PA, but if I have a choice, I’m not eating or drinking there. I’m not getting gas there. I’m not doing any Christmas shopping on my lunch break near work. After years, I stopped buying Yuengling in favor of Delaware’s Dogfish Head. I also stopped buying the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday and switched to the Delaware News Journal. (This had less to do with gay marriage than with the fact that the Inquirer treats the tri-state area like a bi-state area and completely ignores Delaware so I get no local news. We’re a small state but it’s not like it’s all an empty wasteland. If they circulate to our area, they could at least cover us a little.)

What I will be doing instead is spending more to prop up the economy of my adopted state — the state that has made me feel welcome as a gay person. The Diamond State is home now and I’ll just have to visit people in my old state. I really wonder if Pennsylvania will have a “brain drain” of gay couples who will leave to marry elsewhere. Even if PA passes gay marriage, it will be too little, too late for me. It is the only state in the Northeast that offers no recognition for gay couples. So I’m out (pardon the pun).

I know that not buying gas in Pennsylvania will have no effect but it’s just a small symbol, something that I feel the need to do.