The Pine-Richland School District first made headlines over its policies for transgender students in 2016.
That October, three trans students sued the district – which serves the northern outskirts of Allegheny County – for barring students from using the school bathroom associated with their gender identity.
Students had long been allowed to choose a restroom according to their gender identity. But the district suspended this policy over one parent’s complaint that “individuals with male genitalia who believe themselves to be girls” entered the girls’ restroom.
The district initially urged a dismissal of the lawsuit, but later settled and allowed students to continue using the restroom aligning with their identity.
Less than a decade later, though, that same district – and that same policy – have come back under legal scrutiny. In January, America First Legal, a conservative group based in Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit alleging the policy violates parental rights.
“They’re trying to kind of intimidate and even turn over some existing policies that way,” said Carrie Wardzinski. Wardzinski serves as a Pittsburgh-area organizer for the progressive political group Red, Wine and Blue, which organizes around women’s issues in suburban swing districts.
Wardzinski described America First’s work as “astroturf” activism — using financial and legal backing to create the illusion of a grassroots effort.
Updated: Kayden’s Law, headed for Shapiro’s desk, will alter child custody case calculus
This lawsuit does not mark the group’s first appearance in Pittsburgh. Instead, it fits into a pattern of conservative groups targeting LGBTQ inclusion policies in and around the city.
Several groups involved in these efforts have ties to a single conservative root: The Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that operates nationally.
Kristina Moon, senior attorney at a Pennsylvania legal nonprofit called the Education Law Center, said that national conservative groups tap into concerns from “a minority of parents,” and use them to advance conservative policy changes, regardless of whether those policies “present problems at the school level.”
“Schools have had affirming, inclusive policies or practices in place for years, with no conflicts, no problem,” she said.
Since 2020, elected officials in Allegheny County and Pittsburgh have banned conversion therapy for minors, expanded support for LGBTQ-owned businesses and codified protections for gender-affirming health care.
But even as governments move toward LGBTQ inclusion, growing backlash from out-of-state actors has challenged existing protections, especially for trans residents. From the courtroom to the classroom, many of these efforts have eyed colleges and public schools, which have become ideological battlegrounds over LGBTQ rights nationally.
Warning signs emerged for some in 2022, when America First aired a series of anti-trans advertisements across Pittsburgh radio stations. The spots drew swift condemnation from elected officials.
Years in the making
For years, conservative groups have filed lawsuits, held events and funded media campaigns targeting trans inclusion in Pittsburgh.
Three of America First Legal’s high-ranking officers previously held positions with The Heritage Foundation. The group has also targeted critical race theory, denounced climate change measures and promoted election fraud claims.
Last May, a conservative media outlet publicized news of a pro-LGBTQ mass at Duquesne University, which was canceled less than two weeks later. That outlet, The Daily Signal, is funded entirely by The Heritage Foundation.
Student group’s push for name change raises questions around LGBTQ visibility at Duquesne
Just one month prior, the University of Pittsburgh College Republicans hosted an on-campus debate over “transgenderism and womanhood” that garnered widespread pushback from LGBTQ students and their allies.
The event was funded by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute [ISI], a conservative education group that hosts events on college campuses nationwide. Edwin Feulner, former president of The Heritage Foundation, served as one of ISI’s trustees.
Pitt charged the College Republicans more than $18,000 for a security detail provided in response to protesters at the debate.
But representatives with the Alliance Defending Freedom — a Christian, anti-LGBTQ legal group based in Arizona — wrote to the university on behalf of the ISI and College Republicans. They demanded that Pitt drop the security fee, alleging that its cost violated students’ right to free speech.
Months later, Pitt rescinded the fine.
PublicSource reached out to these conservative groups through phone calls, emails and online media request forms. None of them responded to requests for comment.
The shift toward legal action against LGBTQ rights is familiar territory to Danielle Gross, a partner at the Harrisburg-based advocacy firm Clear Point Communications. She said the history of education policy in Pennsylvania underpins growing legal challenges for schools.
Trans-inclusive fertility clinic to open in Pittsburgh within a year
In 2004, a federal judge ruled against a York County school district’s teaching of creationism, a belief system that rejects evolution and other established science around human origins.
But instead of eliminating religious ideology in schools, Gross said, the ruling only pushed conservative groups to find covert ways to advance Christian education.
The message that groups took from the ruling, according to Gross: “You can do this, you just can’t publicly say that this is your motive. … That’s where we’ve gotten to the point of today.”
“They’re getting better at operating within the blind spots.”
This shift in tactics has meant targeting policies deemed antithetical to conservative Christian values, like LGBTQ rights. And local clashes over these issues are playing out against a backdrop of increasing polarization.
Wardzinski said conservative groups have normalized anti-LGBTQ sentiment in local politics, disenfranchising residents who fear ostracism or targeting for their LGBTQ advocacy.
“You get a lot of people calling others groomers or pedophiles if they support LGBTQ students,” Wardzinski said. “Nobody wants to be harassed. Nobody wants a threat of violence. People just don’t want trouble.”
The national groups pushing back on LGBTQ protections have tens of millions of dollars to spend annually.
A multi-million dollar effort
Organizations targeting local trans inclusion measures are backed by millions of dollars in funds, largely secured through private donors.
Meanwhile, schools have a duty to educate students on “how to think and engage with others in an increasingly diverse, multicultural, dynamic 21st century,” according to Moon.
When schools fail to provide an affirming academic environment, they miss an opportunity to educate students on different lived experiences — and place trans youth at risk, she said.
“It is not straight, cisgender kids who need some kind of protection in schools,” Moon said. “It’s actually trans, non-binary [and] gay kids who are suffering discrimination, bullying, harassment and even physical assault.”
Cap, gown, kidney: I’ll walk next month, then roll into transplant surgery
Wardzinski said these pushes from conservative groups have garnered local outcry.
But action against anti-LGBTQ policies often come through grassroots organizing by community members themselves, not multi-million dollar companies based outside Pennsylvania, she said. “There’s a fairly decent-sized group in Pine-Richland of parents who have been organizing for a number of years against extremism in their community, and I would even say Christian nationalism.”
These efforts from external groups have only “further solidified their desire to protect trans kids, and other LGBTQ students in the district,” Wardzinski said. “I think that group has really tried to protect them and speak out.”
Jack Walker is a journalist based in West Virginia. Reach Jack at jackwalkerwv@gmail.com.
This story was fact-checked by Miranda Jeyaretnam.
