Rep. Tim Brennan

Today, as we kick off Pride Month, we celebrate the right of every person to live and love openly as their authentic self. The progress we've made toward LGBTQ+ equality was achieved through the courage of generations of activists who stood up against discrimination to build a more just society; it’s important to honor their legacy.

While some in Washington are working to roll back protections and target LGBTQ+ Americans, we are fighting back every step of the way. History shows us that while progress may face challenges from those who seek to divide us, it cannot be erased -- thinking back to our first Pride flag raising in Doylestown, we've made progress even since then.

I’m eager to celebrate our LGBTQ+ community this month, and to continue advocating for legislation that will further cement Pennsylvania as a place where everyone belongs. Happy Pride Month!

There are a few things I’m more proud of, as a member of the appropriations committee over the last three years, than our new financial investments in the study of neurodegenerative conditions such as ALS.

One of the people who I met lobbying for this funding in my first year was Paul Miller of Lackawanna County (pictured center). He was diagnosed with ALS in 2012 but frequently attended events of the Capital to push for better investments in this research. Sadly, he also lost his son to a distracted driver, and our new distracted driver law, often called “Paul Miller’s Law,” was named after his son.

Individuals with ALS are often given only a few years to live. Session days are often a pressure cooker and in meeting Paul, I couldn’t help but be overcome with emotion that a person who may only have a short amount time was using so much of it to encourage legislators to help others. What he does is good citizenship of the highest order and genuinely changes the world around him. I was happy to see him again Friday when I toured the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center with my friend and colleague Rep. Kyle Mullins and ALS United Mid-Atlantic to see some of the advancements being made with these new state investments in additional research.

New technologies are making personalized medicine a possibility and greatly accelerating the pace of learning. These researchers and institutions are making great strides and progress, unimaginable only a few years ago. Rep. Mullins and I also recently met with the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center to talk about some of the work being done right here in Bucks County.

Rep. Mullins lost his father to ALS and former Republican leader, Rep. Bryan Cutler, also lost both parents to this terrible disease. I watched them speak together on the house floor several times with one voice. To make this funding happen, both worked tirelessly and in a bipartisan fashion to make it a reality. Other members such as Rep. Melissa Cerrato worked for this funding and spoke about losing family members and her experiences with genetic profiling and susceptibilities to the condition. It was encouraging to the body as a whole to see their bipartisan work which is bringing hope to so many people affected by this disease and similar neurodegenerative diseases.

During the tour and discussion this Friday, Rep. Mullins noted in passing that when his father was suffering with ALS he imagined people like the researchers we met working and rushing to find a cure. Thanks to his work and others, so many families don’t have to just imagine anymore, they can see the reality and urgency in which we are racing for a cure. I am very proud to be associated with these type of people and this type of work. We have great momentum and we owe it to those affected and their families to continue that momentum, in this budget and future budgets.

Earlier this month on a sunny Saturday afternoon, my staff and I helped New Hope Celebrates with a stroll across the Delaware River on the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge to kick off Pride Month which begins in June.

Since 2003, New Hope has hosted one of the FIRST Prides of the season in May. This Pride festival that brings two beautiful, picturesque small towns together draws more than 15,000 people annually to celebrate diversity, progress, love, and inclusion to our communities.

What a great turnout of more than 1,000 participants!