January 01, 2006 | 06:23 PM

The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA) has nominated the Philadelphia 11 for a national historic marker to be placed at the site of their arrests in Philadelphia.

According to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) website, the organization since 1946 has "administered a program of historical markers to capture the memory of people, places, and events that have affected the lives of Pennsylvanians over the centuries since William Penn founded his Commonwealth."

The PHMC has placed more than 2,000 historic markers across Pennsylvania to "tell the stories of Native Americans and settlers, government and politics, athletes, entertainers, artists, struggles for freedom and equality, factories and businesses, and a multitude of other topics."

AFA of PA has proposed the following text for the Philadelphia 11 historic marker: "On this site eleven members of Repent America, an evangelical Christian organization, were arrested on October 10, 2004. They were charged with a hate crime for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and singing choruses at a homosexual event. This was the first time in America that Christians were arrested under a state hate crimes statute."

PHMC will now have the AFA of PA proposed marker "evaluated by a panel of independent experts from across the state and reviewed by PHMC commissioners the following spring."

Recently, PHMC approved and dedicated a marker to homosexual activists, which was unveiled by Executive Director Barbara Franco on July 1, 2005 and placed next to Independence Hall.

Resources:
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC)
Historical Marker Program