It was a 2010 announcement about a Civil War cemetery that galvanized 58-year-old Anthony Bullett to act.

Bullett had moved back to his hometown of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania — population: 7,000 — when he was in his 40s to take care of his mother.

At a ceremony to rededicate the graves of Black Civil War soldiers, “the then-mayor made a comment that she was proud that the cemetery wasn’t segregated,” Bullett said.

“Whatever equality she may think that there was in death, there wasn’t that equality in life,” he said. “But more importantly … LGBT people [don’t have equality] and we now have a chance that we can make that right.”

Nine years later, Huntingdon, which sits along the Juniata River between Altoona and Harrisburg, joined the 57 other Pennsylvania municipalities that have passed ordinances barring discrimination against LGBTQ people in matters such housing, employment or public accomodation. It’s a first for a rural community in the state.

“[It] feels really surreal, but I am hoping that more rural townships will follow suit,” said Borough Council President Nicole Houck.

Jason Landau Goodman, executive director of the Pennsylvania Youth Congress, said getting such a law passed in rural Huntingdon marks an important shift.

“It shows there’s support not just in cities and suburbs, but throughout the entire commonwealth,” he said.

The move drew praise from Lt. Gov. John Fetterman on social media.