Pittsburgh City Council condemns proposed Save Women's Sports Act

Pittsburgh City Council voted Tuesday to condemn efforts in the state legislature to ban transgender girls from competing in female youth sports.

The council measure, known as a will of council, comes in response to the proposed Save Women’s Sports Act, which would bar transgender athletes in youth sports from competing in categories that align with their chosen gender identities.

Councilman Bruce Kraus called the proposed legislation in Harrisburg “a cruel bully tactic, specifically on trans girls, in a sad showing of political theater from legislators that have full knowledge of Gov. Wolf’s intent to veto such abhorrent legislation.”

“The city of Pittsburgh affirms … that trans girls are girls and trans boys are boys,” Kraus said, reading from the council measure. “(City Council) unapologetically condemns floor discussion of this hateful and dangerous legislation in the strongest possible terms.”

Councilwoman Erika Strassburger said the will of council shows members of the transgender community that they have allies in local government.

“We should all stand up for our trans neighbors,” Councilwoman Deb Gross said.

Councilman Ricky Burgess said people shouldn’t be discouraged from sports for any reason, including sexual identity and race.

“We should obviously not discriminate, period,” he said. “Everybody should be protected, everybody should be respected and everybody should be loved.”

The will of council will be sent to the Allegheny County delegation in the state House and Senate, as well as those chairing the state House and Senate Education Committees and the bill’s 53 sponsors of the Save Women’s Sports Act. Members of the county’s delegation sponsoring the bill include state Reps. Valerie Gaydos, R-Aleppo, and Carrie Lewis DelRosso, R-Oakmont.

“This legislation is about preserving fairness and protecting women,” Gaydos, one of the prime cosponsors, said in a statement. “This does not ban transgender students from playing sports. It requires biological males to play on men’s teams and biological women to play on women’s team. This is also about safety.”

Referring to an executive order issued by President Biden in January that said transgender female athletes must be allowed to compete against women, Gaydos said, “This executive order reverses decades of progress for women’s sports. (The Save Women’s Sports Act) restores the intent of federal Title IX established in 1972 for girls to compete on a level playing field in athletics.”