Pittsburgh officials endorse legislation to expand voting rights, condemn attacks on transgender athletes

Pittsburgh City Council members Tuesday formally urged federal and state officials to protect voting rights and denounced attempts to prohibit transgender athletes from participating in scholastic and collegiate sports.

Council members unanimously passed actions sponsored by council members Corey O’Connor and Erika Strassburger.

O’Connor’s measure asks Pennsylvania’s U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey to support the For the People Act, an expansion of federal voting rights that passed the House earlier this month.

The act would restrict partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts, strike down hurdles to voting and bring transparency to a murky campaign finance system that allows wealthy donors to anonymously bankroll political causes, according to The Associated Press.

The bill would be a counterweight to voting rights restrictions advancing in Republican-controlled statehouses across the country in the wake of Donald Trump’s repeated false claims of a stolen 2020 election, the AP reported.

The law would provide a national standard for voting rights that would be welcomed, O’Connor said.

Council’s action condemned “deliberate efforts to disenfranchise or otherwise impede electoral participation” by various election laws being considered or that have been passed at the state level.

Councilman Ricky Burgess called recent attempts to change voting laws a “revived attempt” at suppressing minority voters.

“We should all support eliminating voter suppression and making it easier for people to vote,” Burgess said.

The measure sponsored by Strassburger denounces attempts of state and federal legislators to prohibit transgender athletes from participating in scholastic and collegiate sports and asks legislators to support inclusive policies to encourage transgender athletes.

It will be sent to Allegheny County’s state legislative delegation, the leadership of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Gov. Tom Wolf, state Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega, U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle and Sens. Casey and Toomey.

Supporting transgender athletes is especially important this week, Strassburger said, as Wednesday is International Transgender Day of Visibility.

It’s important for council to send a message to transgender youth that there are “people in leadership positions who support you,” Strassburger said.

The actions passed by council are ceremonial.