Gay in NEPA on the Next State of Pennsylvania on WVIA-TV PITTSTON, PA (wvia) - It is estimated that between 8 and 10 percent of northeastern Pennsylvania's population is gay. Correspondent Suzanne Kapral-Kelly welcomes panelists who will address being Gay in NEPA on the next State of Pennsylvania Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. on WVIA-TV.

Key elements and concerns within the gay community are the right to be accepted for who they are; the right to be treated fairly at school and work, in church and in public; the right to quality health care; and, the right to be respected by public servants, including those in law enforcement.

According to the 2009 GayNEPA Community Assessment Survey 50.3 percent of gay couples are in a monogamous relationship; 16.5 percent have had a same-sex commitment ceremony or wedding; 77 percent would want a same-sex civil union, marriage or domestic partnership; 43 percent are parents; 57 percent were raised in the Catholic Church. However, only 16 percent are still practicing - although respondents stated that the "abandonment" rate is much lower in the Protestant church and almost non-existent in the Unitarian, Unity and Episcopal churches.

Furthermore, of the 150 randomly polled Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender respondents, 95 percent are registered active voters; most have some form of college education including a Masters Degree or Doctorate.

Joining Correspondent Suzanne Kapral-Kelly in the Sordoni Theater at WVIA will be John Dawe from Dawe Consulting and Executive Director, NEPA Rainbow Alliance; Jeff Brauer, Associate Professor & Director for the Center for Service Learning at Keystone College and Board Member, Equality Pennsylvania; Rev. Daniel Gunn, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Wilkes-Barre and Jennie Congleton, Ph.D. Professor (Retired), Misericordia University.

The show will also include comments from International Aids Activist, Cleve Jones, who is also founder of the Aids Memorial Quilt. Actor Emile Hirsch in the 2009 Oscar Nominated Film, Milk, portrayed Cleve Jones.

To be part of WVIA's live studio audience in the region's only High Definition Theater Studio, call (570) 602-1150 or visit www.wvia.org.

Viewers may call in questions during the show at 1-800-326-9842 or go to www.wvia.org to submit their questions online.

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