A new package of legislation set to be introduced to Pittsburgh City Council Tuesday could create new protections for the LGBTQ community. Sponsored by Councilor Barb Warwick, the bills are designed to de-emphasize enforcement of any future law restricting the LGBTQ community from participating in otherwise legal activities.
Warwick said the bills are an example of the city standing arm in arm with the local queer community.
"We really need lawmakers at every level of government — county, state, etc. — to be figuring out ways that we can proactively protect LGBTQIA folks, especially trans folks and other vulnerable communities," Warwick told WESA. "These are some of the first steps we can take here in the City of Pittsburgh."
One bill would prohibit the withholding or denial of "elective medical care which would normally be provided to a person, but for that person's real or perceived gender identity or expression."
For example, if a medical provider denied a trans patient breast augmentation surgery on the basis of their gender identity, residents would have a new recourse. The bill would be enforced by the city's Commission on Human Relations.
If it becomes law, city residents could report discrimination to the city and the medical provider would have 30 days to respond. The city could require a reconciliation process between the two parties or bring the matter to court.
Warwick said the measure would allow residents to bring cases of medical discrimination to the city "the same way that residents of Pittsburgh can come to the Commission on Human Relations for help with a housing discrimination case or an employment discrimination case."
But the bill would not change a high-profile example of the LGBTQ community's changing access to medical care.
In the case of UPMC ending gender-affirming care for young trans patients, the law would not compel the health system to resume that care, according to Rachel Shepherd, executive director of the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations. She said that's because UPMC is winding down care for all patients rather than individually discriminating against one or two based on their gender identity.
"Closure of a department is not on the same level as an individual denial," Shepherd said at a recent meeting of the LGBTQIA+ Commission. "We as a commission cannot force them into the market to do that kind of particular service."
A 2023 city law, also introduced by Warwick, cushions medical providers from gender-affirming care bans to a degree. It de-prioritizes the city's enforcement of any future ban on trans medical care and prohibits city resources from being used in a related investigation. Warwick said the latest bill is a needed addition, as regional medical providers have voluntarily stopped providing gender-affirming services to young patients.
"It did not occur to us [then] that the providers themselves would be proactively denying care," Warwick said. "We need to do whatever we can to protect folks and make sure that they are not being discriminated against in medical care."
The other bill pertains to future restrictions of queer people from otherwise legal activities. An example, Warwick explained, could be banning trans people from participating in a sporting event at the state or federal level. Her bill would direct the city to de-prioritize enforcement of such a ban or restriction.
The bill seeks to pre-emptively shield the LGBTQ community against being barred from society, Warwick said.
"If it's okay for me as a cis-gender woman to do a story hour with children, it should also be okay for a trans woman to do a story hour with children," she said.
Another example listed in the bill is a so-called "bathroom ban," which would require an individual to use the facility that aligns with the gender they were assigned at birth. The bill would de-prioritize enforcement of such a ban, if one were to be enacted at the state or federal level.
Though the city cannot legalize something deemed criminal at the state or federal level, it does have the authority to direct city agencies to stand down in enforcing a crime.
The legislation resembles a 2022 city law that similarly deemphasizes the enforcement of any future abortion ban. Those bills were introduced shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion.
Warwick also plans to introduce a third bill that would essentially decriminalize sex work in Pittsburgh. Similar to the city's 2016 law that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, Warwick's bill would reduce the penalty for prostitution from a misdemeanor to a summary offense.
A press conference to unveil the legislative package is scheduled to be held at the City-County building Tuesday morning.
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