Calls are growing for Western Pennsylvania state Rep. Aaron Bernstine to resign after PennLive reported that the Republican lawmaker directed racist and homophobic slurs at fellow state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and falsely claimed the openly gay Black legislator had AIDS.
Bernstine, whose 8th Legislative District includes portions of Butler and Lawrence counties, denies the allegations.
According to PennLive, the incident occurred Tuesday night at McGrath’s Pub in Harrisburg, where a Democratic fundraiser was underway. Kenyatta was not at the bar.
Michael Ford, secretary-treasurer of the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council, told PennLive that Bernstine began insulting Kenyatta during an argument involving Ford. According to Ford’s account to PennLive, Bernstine referred to Kenyatta using a slur targeting both his race and sexual orientation.
Ford also alleged that Bernstine joked about Kenyatta’s recent weight loss before falsely claiming that Kenyatta had AIDS.
Bernstine disputes that account.
“The allegations attributed to me are false,” Bernstine said in a statement reported by the Butler Eagle. “This is a political attack.”
Calls for Bernstine to resign
The allegations quickly prompted demands for Bernstine’s resignation from LGBTQ+ and Black lawmakers in Harrisburg.
Leaders of the Pennsylvania LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus and Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus issued a joint statement Thursday calling the reported attacks on Kenyatta “hateful, degrading, and untrue.”
“Representative Bernstine must be held accountable for his words and actions, which have made him unfit to serve,” the caucus leaders said.
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They also called on House Republican leaders to denounce the reported behavior, join the demand for Bernstine’s resignation and explain what steps they would take to prevent similar conduct within their caucus.
The calls for consequences have spread beyond the two caucuses. The Philadelphia House Delegation joined the demand for Bernstine’s resignation, while House Democratic leadership said it was exploring potential next steps in response to the allegations. Rep. La’Tasha D. Mayes, who represents parts of Pittsburgh, also separately called for Bernstine to resign. National Democratic Party leadership weighed in as well, with Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin and other DNC officers calling for Bernstine to resign or for the Pennsylvania House to censure him. Kenyatta serves as a vice chair of the DNC.
LGBTQ+ advocates are also calling for legislative consequences. Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson told The Advocate that Bernstine should “at a minimum” face censure from his House colleagues, if not expulsion from the legislature. House Republican leadership, meanwhile, has described the alleged conduct as “troubling” and inconsistent with the values and professionalism expected of lawmakers, but has stopped short of joining the calls for Bernstine’s resignation.
The reported AIDS remark is an old and poisonous anti-gay trope.
Using AIDS as a punchline about a gay man reaches directly into one of the ugliest chapters of modern queer history. From the earliest years of the AIDS epidemic, HIV was treated by some not simply as a virus but as evidence of homosexuality, promiscuity, sickness, and moral failure. Early terminology even included “gay-related immune deficiency,” helping reinforce the false public perception that AIDS was exclusively a gay disease.
That stigma had and continues to have real consequences.
The CDC says HIV stigma can discourage people from being tested, disclosing their status, and accessing prevention and medical care. The agency specifically identifies assuming someone has HIV because of their identity or behavior as an example of HIV stigma. Homophobia, racism, and HIV stigma also continue to contribute to health disparities affecting gay and bisexual men, particularly Black and Latino men.
This is not Bernstine’s first controversy in office.
In 2020, Republican legislative leaders called for Bernstine’s resignation after videos surfaced showing him encouraging his then-5-year-old son to smoke a cigar and use derogatory language about women. Other footage showed Bernstine involving another child in an adult-themed “Fuck, Marry, Kill” game.
Bernstine later apologized for what he characterized as jokes that went too far.