Former State Senator Jim Ferlo has passed away at age 70. Ferlo was the first openly LGBTQ member of the Pennsylvania State Senate.
Jim Ferlo was elected to State Senate in 2002 and served the 38th District which included parts of Allegheny, Armstrong, and Westmoreland Counties until 2015. He came out publicly in 2014 saying “I’m gay. Get over it.”
State Senator Jay Costa announced Ferlos’s passing saying “He always advocated for working people, minority groups, women, and the LGBTQ community; the least heard voices in politics.”