Pa. Senator Comes Out During Conference on LGBT Crimes

A Pennsylvania state senator came out as gay during a Tuesday conference on LGBT hate crimes, held in the wake of the recent attack against a same-sex couple, the Huffington Post reports.

"I'm gay. Get over it. I love it," Democrat Sen. Jim Ferlo said via an audio recording posted by Mary Wilson a reporter for WITF broadcasting. Wilson also took to Twitter to say that Ferlo's announcement most likely makes him Pennsylvania's first openly gay state senator.

"At LGBT equality press conference, Sen Jim Ferlo announces he's gay. I believe that makes him the PA Senate's first openly gay member," she wrote.

Ferlo is an outgoing senator, representing part of Pittsburgh. He's also the sponsor of a bill that would protect the state's LGBT community from hate crimes. Activists are currently urging a revision of Pennsylvania's current hate crime laws, which don't extend to LGBT people, because of a Sept. 11 attacked where a same-sex couple was attacked.

The lawmaker said Tuesday he has been "a practicing homosexual" since his mid-20s.

"I've never denied my homosexuality ... I just never made an official declaration," he said. He added many of his friends, co-workers and community members already know about his sexuality.

According to Wilson's tweets, when Ferlo finished talking, Rep. Brian Sims (D), who is also openly gay, said "Let's keep this going." Sims is the state's first openly gay legislator to be elected when he won his seat in 2012, HuffPo points out. The Sept. 11 attack also happened to occur in his district.