The Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations is condemning UPMC’s settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice that will keep gender-affirming medical care unavailable to young transgender patients for the next decade.
In a public statement issued September 29, the Commission’s Executive Committee called the agreement a “devastating blow to the community” and pointed directly to Pittsburgh’s civil rights law prohibiting discrimination in medical care based on gender identity or expression.
“Pittsburghers should not have to leave their hometown medical hub to seek care,” the Commission said.
The statement follows UPMC’s September 18 agreement with the Justice Department and puts Pittsburgh’s own civil rights protections squarely into the conversation over the health system’s treatment of young transgender patients.
As QBurgh previously reported, UPMC agreed to pay $950,000 to resolve a federal investigation concerning its provision and billing of gender-affirming healthcare. The agreement includes a 10-year moratorium on providing gender-affirming medical care to patients under 19. UPMC expressly denied wrongdoing or liability.
UPMC had already stopped providing gender-affirming medical care to patients under 19 as early as March 2025 amid pressure from the Trump administration. The settlement potentially extends that shutdown for a decade.
Now, Pittsburgh’s official civil rights enforcement body is raising the legal issue of what City law says about denying medical care because someone is transgender.
Pittsburgh law specifically addresses discrimination in medical care
The Commission highlighted Section 659.04 of Pittsburgh’s City Code, which makes discrimination based on gender identity or expression unlawful in public accommodations.
More specifically, the law prohibits providers from refusing or withholding elective medical care that would otherwise be provided to someone but for that person’s gender identity or gender expression.
That provision was added in July 2025 through legislation specifically intended to “restrict discrimination in medical care on the basis of gender identity.” Pittsburgh City Council passed the ordinance and Mayor Ed Gainey signed it on July 9, 2025.
The ordinance defines elective medical care broadly as non-emergency care that can be scheduled in advance, including healthcare addressing physical, mental, emotional, psychiatric, psychological, or psychosocial functioning.
The Commission stopped short in its statement of announcing an enforcement action against UPMC or declaring that UPMC has violated the ordinance. Instead, it emphasized the existing protection and urged people who believe they have experienced discrimination to contact the Commission.
“If you feel your rights have been violated, we urge you to contact our office,” the Commission said.
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Whether UPMC’s current policy or its agreement with the federal government violates Pittsburgh law would ultimately involve legal questions beyond the Commission’s September 29 statement. But the Commission is making clear that Pittsburgh’s local prohibition against gender-identity discrimination in medical care remains on the books.
The City’s own guidance lists gender identity and gender expression among the characteristics protected from discrimination in public accommodations.
“Giving families the right to choose”
The Commission also directly challenged the rationale used to justify restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare for young people.
“Inequities in health care are already a guarantee for vulnerable populations; utilizing identity to restrict access to clinical intervention is not only discriminatory, but life-threatening,” the Commission said.
“If the safety of children was truly at the heart of this matter, giving families the right to choose what care is right for them would be at the forefront.”
In announcing the UPMC settlement, the Department of Justice used ideologically charged language to characterize gender-affirming healthcare and said its investigations of healthcare providers would continue. The government also acknowledged that its claims against UPMC were allegations only, that there had been no determination of liability and that UPMC denied the allegations.
The settlement followed a separate battle between the federal government and Pittsburgh families over the medical records of transgender young people.
Earlier this year, Chief U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon blocked the DOJ from compelling UPMC to turn over the records. The Justice Department later abandoned its appeal, ending that effort to obtain the patient information.
UPMC has said its settlement with the federal government includes privacy, confidentiality and non-prosecution protections for patients, guardians, providers and employees.
But preserving patient privacy did not restore access to care.
There are currently no medical providers in Pittsburgh openly offering gender-affirming care to people, including adults, under age 19, meaning young people and their families may have to travel outside the region to obtain care that was once available in their hometown.
The Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations says people who believe they have experienced discrimination can contact the Commission at human.relations@pittsburghpa.gov.
The Commission is the City of Pittsburgh’s civil rights enforcement and investigative body and is empowered to receive and investigate complaints alleging unlawful discrimination.