Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Wolf has announced that Dr. Rachel Levine is his choice for Physician General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Levine would be the highest-ranked transgender woman in state government history.

A Philadelphia judge has ordered three young adults to stand trial for an alleged attack on a gay couple in September that left one of the men with a broken jaw.

The domestic partner of former Edinboro University official is suing the school and an insurance company for denying him his deceased partner’s life insurance benefits.

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia’s city council has passed a bill authorizing added penalties for gender identity and sexual orientation hate crimes that aren’t covered under state law. The administration-backed bill won unanimous approval Thursday. Mayor Michael Nutter has two weeks to sign it into law.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Legislation to expand Pennsylvania’s hate crimes law to include sexual orientation and gender identity advanced in the state legislature on Monday. In a bipartisan vote, the House Judiciary Committee approved the measure 19-4 following a renewed push Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Philadelphia), the bill’s sponsor, in the wake of a brutal attack …

PHILADELPHIA — Three young adults charged with beating a gay couple in Philadelphia are due in court Dec. 16 for a preliminary hearing. Police accuse the two men and a suburban police chief’s daughter with taking part in an assault that left one man with a wired jaw.

PHILADELPHIA — The fate of 27 same-sex couples who married in Pennsylvania before a federal judge struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban could be resolved through a legal settlement. Their marriages would be recognized under the proposed deal, but their legal anniversary would move to May 20, 2014, the day Pennsylvania’s …

PHILADELPHIA — More than 200 people advocated for changes to the state’s hate-crimes law in the wake of the beating of a gay couple in downtown Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday that the crowd pushed for Pennsylvania’s anti-hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by sexual orientation. The rally was held in Philadelphia’s…

PHILADELPHIA — While Pennsylvania lawmakers push to advance statewide hate crimes protections that include sexual orientation and gender identity, members of the Philadelphia city council on Thursday will introduce their own measure that would add a hate crime chapter to the city code.

PHILADELPHIA — The three young adults charged with beating a gay couple during a night out on the town in Philadelphia have been released on bail. KYW-TV reports that 24-year-old Philip Williams of Warminster, 24-year-old Kathryn Knott of Southampton and 26-year-old Kevin Harrigan of Warrington left the police department’s Central Detectives …