Speakers condemn harassment of LGBTQ resident; Council president apologizes and pledges stricter enforcement

Council President Gerald Smurll opened the June 10 Scranton City Council meeting with an apology for failing to maintain order during last week’s meeting and for not intervening sooner when hateful remarks were directed at a public speaker.

"I apologize for not performing under my job properly," Smurll said, adding that he accepts responsibility and will enforce council rules going forward.

The apology set the tone for a lengthy public comment period in which more than a dozen residents and community leaders urged the council to take concrete steps to protect LGBTQ residents and to strictly enforce rules that bar personal attacks in the chambers. Speakers called for strengthened nondiscrimination protections, explicit protections for gender-affirming health care and clearer penalties for harassment during public comment.

Angela Ramon, a resident who said she handed the council a copy of the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance (identified in comments as "chapter 2-96"), said the ordinance "is quite extensive in its protections for the LGBT community" but "falls short" on explicitly protecting gender-affirming care and on defining some attacks as hate crimes. Ramon asked the council to strengthen those protections and to enforce speaker rules so residents feel safe participating in local government.

"If left unanswered," Ramon said of the earlier harassment, "it would lead to many other people in our city like myself feeling too afraid to speak out and feeling too afraid to have their voices heard by their own representatives."

Other residents gave personal testimony about the harms of dehumanizing rhetoric. Connor Kelly O’Brien, director of the Scranton Fringe Festival, cited national suicide statistics for LGBTQ youth and urged officials to recognize that public speech has real-world consequences. "What we say matters," he said. Jessica McGuigan, a long-time Scranton resident, said silence in the face of bigotry "comes off as complicity."

Several speakers pointed to recent actions in nearby cities and urged Scranton to follow suit. Ethan Emker, a resident, specifically requested that Scranton pass a resolution protecting gender-affirming health care similar to measures he said exist elsewhere. Frankie Malakari and others urged the council to consider a sanctuary-city designation to encourage undocumented residents to report crimes without fear of immigration enforcement.

Local resident Bob Bolas, who drew criticism for comments at last week’s meeting, addressed the council during public comment and said he had filed a lawsuit seeking removal of the pride flag from city property, arguing the flag was not authorized for public display. Bolas cited statutory language during his remarks; council members and many residents loudly disputed both his tone and arguments.

Council members responded during the meeting. Councilman William King said he regrets not intervening sooner and apologized for the delay in responding: "I do apologize for not jumping in earlier. That's simply unacceptable." Council member Dr. Jessica Rothschild spoke during the session and was thanked publicly by multiple speakers for addressing the harassment. Several council members said they would work with the solicitor to enforce rules equally and to explore policy responses.

Speakers and elected officials repeatedly emphasized that apology alone will not suffice. Several public commenters urged the council to pair statements with specific policy actions: clearer enforcement procedures for speaker misconduct, a review and possible update of the city's nondiscrimination ordinance (chapter 2-96, as referenced in public comment), and consideration of resolutions to protect gender-affirming care and sanctuary measures.

The council did not vote on new ordinances or resolutions related to the public comments during the meeting; the session instead moved on to several procedural introductions and formal votes on unrelated agenda items.

Residents filled the chamber for the session, and several asked the council to follow the public statements with concrete steps to ensure that city hall remains a place where all residents can participate without fear of harassment.