City looks to repeal old rule targeting drag performances

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh City Council is poised to repeal an unenforced rule that, if it were followed, would threaten drag performances in the city.

Technically, the zoning provision bans cabaret entertainment by “male or female impersonators” in much of Pittsburgh. It probably dates to 1959 — an outmoded relic of a past era, council President Bruce Kraus said Thursday.

He wasn’t aware of any enforcement since he joined council in 2008, he said. Only last year did sitting council members discover the regulation, brought to their attention by the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh.

The LGBT advocacy group has asked council to eliminate the language, which appears as part of comprehensive standards governing adult cabarets and where they can set up shop. At a public hearing Thursday, a few council members said they expect the change to win passage seamlessly. A preliminary vote could materialize Wednesday.

“Any time you have language like this — obviously discrimination against a marginalized community — you want to update that language,” said Gary Van Horn, Delta Foundation president. He said a theoretical challenge could compel the city to enforce the rule “because they have to equitably enforce the laws on the books unless those laws are changed or negated by the courts.”

He said a petition supporting the code amendment collected