Published July 9, 2025 at 5:30 AM EDTWith little discussion, Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday unanimously passed three bills intended to provide further safeguards to LGBTQ Pittsburghers.
Councilor Barb Warwick introduced the bills at the end of June to extend more protections to the local queer community.
Two of the bills were designed to de-emphasize enforcement of any future law restricting the LGBTQ community from participating in otherwise legal activities and create avenues for reporting medical discrimination.
The first bill prohibits 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 breast augmentation surgery to a trans patient on the basis of their gender identity, residents could report the provider to the city’s Commission on Human Relations.
The second bill aims to pre-emptively shield the LGBTQ community against being barred from society by future federal legislation by directing the city to de-prioritize enforcement of such a ban or restriction.
A third bill lessens the legal penalty for engaging in sex work from a misdemeanor to a summary offense. Warwick and other advocates say LGBTQ individuals have been disproportionately affected by such arrests. They say this measure will help the queer community and other vulnerable workers to not be targeted, and come forward to law enforcement if they need help without fear of persecution.
“Whether it’s proactively making sure that we are not criminalizing being trans, or making sure trans people have access to the health care that they need or not being discriminated against by our largest medical providers, and also making sure that folks who are doing survival sex work on the street are not being persecuted and thrown in jail, but they’re actually being cared for and getting the services that they need — these are all good things, right?” Warwick said.
“These are things that make Pittsburgh safer and really help protect our most vulnerable.”
Julia Maruca reports on Pittsburgh city government, programs and policy. She previously covered the Westmoreland County regions of Hempfield and Greensburg along with health care news for the Tribune-Review.
Pittsburgh City Council passes further protections for LGBTQ people
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