Discrimination Tracker: Luzerne County, PA

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania highighted in rainbow colors across the state of Pennsylvania, USA.

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania has a population of 325,594 people and recently signed into law Ordinance 2026-11. This ordinance is the first of its kind across Pennsylvania and protects women, LGBTQ people, people of color, and other minorities from discrimination and abuse. Specifically, it protects minorities from any discrimination in the following areas:

1. Requirements for Employment

2. Housing

3. Education

4. Health Care

5. Public Accommodations

In a 7 (in favor) to 4 (opposed) decision, the Luzerne County Council voted in favor of passing the ordinance on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. For the record, it's largest city is Wilkes Barre City, which already has an anti-discrimination ordinance in place. So, this wouldn't change much for everyone else - but it would help some by a lot. There's no downside to this. It's a win for some and a neutral move for others.

Then, Republicans got involved. The Republican Party of Luzerne County started a petition to overturn the ordinance and put it on the general election ballot in November 2026. The LCRP (Luzerne County Republican Party) claims they just want it on the ballot so everyone can vote in favor or against it. They even say "there should be no Kings in America where council members pass laws without the vote of the people" (paraphrasing). It's rich coming from a party supporting Donald Trump...

But if they supported the measure and wanted it to pass, why not just leave well enough alone? No...they want it overturned. And here is where the story gets interesting.

In Luzerne County, PA, any political party only needs 100 total signatures on a petition to get something on the ballot or a percentage of the last gubernatorial election. So, when the LCRP submitted a petition to the county, claiming to have 1,899 signatures, it was overkill. It's still an extremely small percentage of the county though, but 1,899 isn't nothing.

By law, any petition has to be made available to the public for scrutiny. This means names on there can be challenged (for example: if someone else signed your name for you or if they don't live in the area that would be effected). But the county wouldn't release the petition publicly, even after multiple FOIA requests from local media.

After speaking with their lawyers, the county finally let people read the list; however, people who were able to read it, were forced to sign a document stating they wouldn't publish the list online. For the record, that's illegal to ask.

And that made us take notice, all the way from the other side of the state. See, when you try to hide things, we only want to see it more.

Lucky for us, there was a break in the case. One of the Luzerne County Council members, a Democrat named Christopher Belles, never signed that form. And he released the petition online earlier this week, which is how Powered By Rainbows was able to dive into the data.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER:

For the record, we are more than covered legally to share this information. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled on June 24, 2010 in a case between Doe v. Reed that petition signatures can be made public. The 9 Justices ruled in a 8 (in favor) and 1 (opposed: Justice Clarence Thomas) that if you sign a petition, that petition can be made public online without it being considered doxxing by the media to publish. Those who sign petitions are voluntarily giving their information to the public record. This means, it was against the law for anyone in Luzerne County to try to hide this petition from public records and the press.

So, here we go.

Remember how the LCRP claimed to get 1,899 signatures? Well, we went through their 310-page petition. As it turns out, they only got 1,569 signatures. That's already 17.38% less than they originally claimed.

Petitioners have to sign their name, print their name, give their full address (including town, city, or borough), and date their signature.

10 of those who signed are from towns that do not exist anywhere in the United States. Another 16 are from people who live outside of Luzerne County. This means, they cannot legally be counted to effect laws in a county they don't live in. Some others were duplicates where people signed twice. Many appear to us that one person signed multiple people onto the petition in the same handwriting, row after row.

But let's dive a little further into the data to find out why they wanted so badly to hide this list from us.

On the list of those who want the anti-discrimination law overturned are some interesting results.

1. Dan Meuser

   1. 62-year-old current U.S. House of Representative for the 9th Congressional District of Pennsylvania (2019-Current).

   2. Interestingly, Dan signed this petition with his current home address...an address that resides in PA's 8th Congressional District, not where he serves in the 9th District. So, Dan Meuser just publicly told everyone that he does not live in the district he represents.

   3. Also signed are 3 other family members of Dan Meuser.

2. Lou Barletta

   1. 70-year-old former PA-11th District Representative (2011-2019) and former Mayor of Hazleton, PA (2000-2010).

   2. Also signed were his wife and daughter.

3. Jerry Orloski

   1. 5 of his family members are signed to this petition.

   2. Jerry owns Orloski's Car and Lube Shop which has 2 locations in Luzerne County (Wilkes Barre and Dallas)

4. Basant Mittal, MD

   1. He signed his name "Basant Mittal, MD" on page 192 of this petition, meaning he was proud to attach his medical practice to this pro-discrimination petition.

   2. Basant is a pediatrician who appears to be fully licensed in the state of Pennsylvania.

5. Richard Hubbell, MD

   1. He signed his name "Richard Hubbell, MD" on page 199 of this petition, meaning he would also like to attach his medical practice to this pro-discrimination petition.

   2. While we cannot prove it's the same Richard, a doctor by the name Richard Hubbell, MD at the same exact address in Butler Township / Drums, PA was charged with 32 felony counts of falsifying records and distributing fentanyl in 2024. Here's the local news coverage of that arrest.

6. Cletus - Yes, there is even one Cletus mentioned in the signatures.

7. Gaylord Avenue - How someone can sign a petition to discriminate against gay people while signing their address on Gaylord Avenue is a level of irony I genuinely never thought was possible.

For anyone who might complain that we're sharing the full, unredacted list or the data: First, we're more than legally covered by the Supreme Court as members of the press. Second, the Republican Party is the one who always said we should let the free market decide.

After a food truck was at their local Pride Event a week ago, Republicans called for the business to be shut down and called for their party to boycott the Gyro King...as if Republicans were eating Greek food anyway. Luckily, the owner of that food truck has stood by his decision to make food for everyone, saying "If choosing kindness, inclusivity, and respect means losing some customers, we're okay with that. We'd rather build a business that welcomes everyone than one that makes people feel they don't belong."

It's not our fault that companies that support DEI and pro-LGBTQ policies, they report 69.5% growth year after year with 65.0% of minorities buying from brands who purposefully backed LGBTQ and DEI policies.

For companies that turned their back on minorities and discriminate, they see an average of 69.0% of customers refusing to purchase their goods or services and 71.5% of customers purchase fewer products. So, minorities and those who support us have extreme buying power. Thus, we will agree with Republicans this one time: let's allow the market to decide - but, let's make sure the market has all the data first.

The moment Democrats or minorities share data like this, it's a problem but Republicans can do it every day and that's perfectly fine. So, let's have some fun and break down the data!

Here's a breakdown of how many pro-discrimination petitioners there were in each town or city:

LUZERNE COUNTY:

1. Dallas - 137

2. Wilkes Barre City - 109

3. Ross Township - 73

4. Plains - 69

5. Mountain Top - 67

6. Hunlock Creek Township - 64

7. Kingston - 64

8. Hanover Township - 54

9. Harvey's Lake - 50

10. Pittston - 47

11. Shavertown - 46

12. Sugarloaf - 36

13. Luzerne - 34

14. Exeter - 33

15. Fairview Township - 33

16. Drums - 32

17. Duryea - 32

18. Black Creek - 31

19. Wapwallopen - 29

20. Swoyersville - 28

21. Lehman Township - 27

22. Wright Township - 25

23. Forty Fort - 24

24. Shickshinny - 23

25. Dorrance - 22

26. Rice Township - 22

27. Wyoming - 22

28. Nanticoke - 19

29. West Pittston - 19

30. Lake Township - 15

31. Sweet Valley - 15

32. Dupont - 14

33. Slocum Township - 14

34. Jackson Township - 13

35. Larksville - 13

36. Butler Township - 12

37. Plymouth - 12

38. Avoca - 11

39. Bear Creek Village - 11

40. Hollenback Township - 10

41. Trucksville - 10

42. Ashley - 9

43. Fairmount Township - 9

44. West Wyoming - 9

45. White Haven - 9

46. Foster Township - 8

47. Harding - 7

48. Jenkins Township - 7

49. Nuangola - 7

50. Conyngham - 5

51. Hazleton - 5

52. Huntington Township - 5

53. Laflin - 5

54. Newport - 5

55. Edwardsville - 4

56. Pringle - 4

57. Wilkes Barre Township - 4

58. Dennison - 3

59. Nescopeck - 3

60. Hazle Township - 2

61. Hughestown - 2

62. Salem Township - 2

63. Benton Fairmount Township - 1

64. Buck Township - 1

65. Courtdale - 1

66. Franklin Township - 1

67. Glen Lyon - 1

68. Sugar Notch - 1

69. Sybertsville - 1

70. West Nanticoke - 1

CARBON COUNTY:

1. Beaver Meadows - 1

COLUMBIA COUNTY:

1. Berwick - 4

2. Bloomsburg - 2

3. Stillwater - 1

LACKAWANNA COUNTY:

1. Dunmore - 1

2. Moosic - 1

TIOGA COUNTY:

1. Colton - 1

WARREN COUNTY:

1. Lander - 1

WYOMING COUNTY:

1. Falls - 4

TOWNS THAT DO NOT EXIST ANYWHERE:

1. Dxler Borough - 1

2. Harmster - 1

3. Harslrock - 1

4. Itunwck - 1

5. Laenerd Run - 1

6. Lehtior Township - 1

7. North Wonderland - 1

8. Paslas - 1

9. Phr Township - 1

10. Srorvr - 1

With this data, we can compare it to the city's population to find the most bigoted town in that area. So, here are the top 10.

CITY	No. of SIGNERS	TOTAL POPULATION	%
Dallas	137	2,690	5.09%
Bear Creek Village	11	300	3.67%
Shickshinny	23	638	3.61%
Hunlock Creek Township	64	2,215	2.89%
Ross Township	73	2,719	2.68%
Shavertown	46	1,968	2.34%
Harvey's Lake	50	2,788	1.79%
Black Creek	31	1,904	1.63%
Plains	69	4,335	1.59%
Slocum Township	14	1,021	1.37%

To view all the data, names, and information of everyone who signed this pro-discrimination petition, please click HERE or go to: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11fLCP6LzJ7rHshYlh2lNEh-DRka7z_BRRUp--4tyojA/edit?usp=sharing

To view the original pro-discrimination ordinance with signatures, please click HERE.

The Democratic Party of Luzerne County is currently reviewing this 310-page petition to challenge names, if needed. From there, if the petition has enough signatures to go to the Council, Luzerne County will vote on this Anti-Discrimination Ordinance on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

Remember, voting in favor of this ordinance means women, children, LGBTQ, people of color, and other minorities are protected from discrimination and abuse.

To register to vote or check your registration to ensure you can vote on November 3rd, go to https://www.vote.org/register-to-vote/.