Pennsylvania Youth Congress

06/13/2026

Ten years ago, 49 people were murdered in the Pulse massacre in Orlando. We continue to remember each of them, today and every day, as we fight for a safer and more inclusive world that never knows this violence. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the 49 souls who should still be with us.

06/12/2026

Councilmember Rue Landau introduced a resolution to hold public hearings following Gayborhood police clashes during 2026 Pride celebrations.

06/11/2026

We join in sharing our condolences on the passing of Kathi Boyle — a longtime community leader and advocate in Pittsburgh. As the Executive Director of Allies for Health + Wellbeing (then the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force) she expanded critical services helping patients in Southwestern PA. Her legacy of service lives on.

"Together with her wife, Betty Hill, a respected LGBTQ advocate in her own right, Boyle was part of a generation of leaders who helped build and sustain Pittsburgh’s q***r community through decades of change." —More from QBurgh here: https://qburgh.com/kathi-boyle-has-passed-away/

06/11/2026

On Sunday in Philadelphia, what should have been a joyful evening of celebrating Pride became a nightmare. Fifteen people were arrested in the Gayborhood. Videos and photos have been circulating showing how crowd control turned into a militarized operation using harsh, intimidating, and excessive force.

We join local leaders in being outraged, and support the calls for a full investigation and public hearings into the conduct of the officers and Philadelphia Police leadership involved — including an analysis of how conditions were permitted to deteriorate to ensure this never happens again.

Safety measures are vital when thousands of people are in the streets. The formal Philadelphia Pride 365 festival took place on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Sunday proceeded with safety and organization, while alarming conduct occurred against those celebrating in the streets of the Gayborhood. Somewhere city government systems did not meet the moment, and people have been directly harmed and traumatized.

Thank you to the advocates and community members who are speaking out clearly, and marching in the streets, to hold those in power to account. We need open hearings and demand answers.

May there be justice and safety and liberation for all LGBTQ+ Philadelphians — every day of the year.

We will share community actions and forums to support as they become known. You can follow Philadelphia Black Pride for more information.

Philadelphia City Council's next meeting is tomorrow, Thursday, June 11th at 10am — Philadelphia residents can address council during public comment: https://phila.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1410929&GUID=C7A42BFA-F630-40A8-B2FC-F0A6145D9872&Options=info|&Search=

From Jacen Bowman — President of Philadelphia Black Pride: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1747603902915663
From Ernest Owens: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZXiMvsljuJ/
From Philadelphia City Council Member Rue Landau: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZVtLxUEbxD/

Reporting from the Philadelphia Gay News: https://epgn.com/2026/06/09/community-responds-to-gayborhood-police-presence-pride/
Reporting from NBC10 Philadelphia: https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video/news/local/philly-police-address-allegations-of-aggressive-response-during-pride/4414227/
Reporting from 6ABC Philadelphia: https://6abc.com/post/philadelphia-police-response-during-pride-celebrations-draws-protest-monday/19260577/

Statement from Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZYj64mRKD9/
Statement from the Philadelphia Mayor's Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZV_UbgOKnE/

06/10/2026

Wonderful news tonight from NEPA! Luzerne County Council voted to enact LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination protections. Luzerne becomes the eighth county in PA to provide explicit protections for LGBTQ+ people from discrimination. Thank you to all the community members who bravely and fiercely provided public comment in support of the ordinance. Thank you to all the local and regional organizations leading the way in NEPA. Thank you to the generations of NEPA leaders who made tonight possible. Thank you to the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project and Keystone Equality for your work on this local law. We were proud to be there tonight in Wilkes-Barre in support. Onwards, Northeastern PA!

06/06/2026

Happy Pride Month, PA! Pride season 2026 has now arrived: We have over 55 Pride festivals across PA this year. Let's continue to take action for and celebrate our communities. There are formal festivals from May through October — among many, many other Pride picnics, socials, programs, and community gatherings. Please share additional events or updates in the comments. Happy Pride season, PA!

05/06/2026

FROM HARRISBURG: This morning at 9:30am the State Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met to drill through Senate Bill 1321, a bill to ban government-supported healthcare plans (CHIP and Medical Assistance) from covering gender affirming medical healthcare for young trans Pennsylvanians. We thank the Senators who support trans youth in Pennsylvania for speaking out. This bill was just introduced last week and will likely get a vote on the Senate floor soon.

As we have shared before, this State Senate is intent on passing more anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ youth legislation this session, but these bills stop when they meet our State House and a Governor who stands with us.

In 2017, PYC was there in the front row when the State Senate Banking & Insurance Committee for the first time tried to move this attack through a CHIP reauthorization bill. We are present here in the Capitol this morning in 2026. We defeated that bill then, and will again today. Thank you to the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project and other partners for being here today in Harrisburg.

https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/sb1321

04/29/2026

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has just passed an amended bill that includes sexual orientation and gender identity nondiscrimination protections! This is the second session in a row the State House has done so in PA history. The bill now goes to the State Senate.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — A bill banning white-only housing passed the Pennsylvania House on Tuesday, despite not a single Republican supporting the measure. House Bill 2103 would close a loop…

04/22/2026

Moments ago, the State Senate voted for the eighth time to advance a cruel anti-trans student sports ban. SB 1293 passed in a 30-17 vote. Rather than work towards inclusion and equality in sports, our State Senate continues its fixation on attacking trans young people for political theater.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association has already unjustly amended its bylaws to require anti-trans exclusion. We know these repeated, tired arguments from lawmakers demanding a full hateful law be enacted are based in disinformation, bigotry, and apathy in indentifying better paths forward.

We have contacted lawmakers expressing our strong opposition to this effort. This past Monday in Harrisburg we attended the Senate Education Committee vote on this bill. We know SB 1293 is not moving forward. This bill will never become law as long as pro-decency House members hold the line. The inflamatory rhetoric and rejection of facts by our State Senate today should not define our commonwealth.

Because this is political theater right now, we don't want to contribute to the harm in rallying attention on this bill that would cause fear and pain. While we make this post now to ensure you know about this latest development, we don't think that bringing state or national attention to this bill through headlines in newspapers, calls to action, or social media posts with scores of unhelpful comments is useful right now.

We — and so many across our state — fully and deeply care about trans young people across our commonwealth. You are loved, cared for, and have every right to be yourself. Those are the headlines we should have in our news and social media feeds. Just a few weeks ago, we were overjoyed with numerous Pennsylvania trans leaders celebrated on the Pennsylvania State House floor in advance of Trans Day of Visibility.

This morning is another sad moment in Pennsylvania legislative history. We press on in organizing, education, and building communities centered on respect and inclusion. There is more love in our world than hate, even through these tougher days.

04/10/2026

Congratulations, The Attic Youth Center!👏👏👏

The Attic Youth Center, a local LGBTQ+ youth organization, celebrated a new $800,000 Local Share Account investment at a press conference.