More than three dozen community advocates attended Tuesday evening’s Allegheny County Council meeting to demand the council’s president, Patrick Catena, step down after his campaign for state House sent a mailer last week targeted at transgender athletes.
The mailer, which drew harsh backlash from LGBTQ advocates, repeatedly refers to Catena’s opponent in next week’s primary election, Brittany Bloam, as “The Opponent” and alleges she is supported by “an EXTREME LEFT GROUP THAT ADVOCATES FOR TRANSGENDER ATHLETES in our sports.”
Catena and Bloam are Democratic candidates in the May 19 primary election for the District 45 seat in the state House.
Of the nearly four dozen people present at Tuesday’s council meeting, 16 registered for public comment and spoke for nearly an hour during the meeting’s public comment period.
“Pat, you need to step down. Period,” said Dr. Scott Tyson, a former pediatric physician from South Hills. “This was [nonsense] what you did. These kids are at terrible risk [of] suicide, being beaten up and it is terrible that you would send a mailer like this.”
Catena apologized in a statement to over the weekend to WESA-FM, Pittsburgh’s public radio station, but has yet to issue any public comments to his campaign website or social media accounts.
“Public service should bring people together, not deepen divisions. I remain committed to treating every individual with dignity and respect, and will be having tough conversations to better inform myself of the struggles of our most vulnerable communities,” the statement given to WESA read.
Nearly every individual who called for Catena to step down on Tuesday said the lack of an adequate apology was a motivating factor in their belief that Catena is no longer fit to serve as president. Catena, a Democrat, has served on the Allegheny County Council since 2017, representing McKees Rocks, and as the council’s president since 2020.
Heather Collins, of Ross Township, said that while she is a registered Republican and faithful Christian, she is also a mother to a transgender child.
“That is who you sent your flyer to, to my household, for shame,” Collins said. “I know firsthand what it is to raise a talkpoint … but these are not statistics. These people that sit before you are your neighbors, they are someone’s child. … I ask that you take that into consideration and remove Pat Catena.”
Shekinah Rose, a Pittsburgh resident, said the language Catena used in his mailer was “intentional, harmful, transphobic and used to divide communities.
“Public officials should lead responsibly and ethically, representing all residents with dignity,” Rose said. “The candidate mailer sent from his home attacks vulnerable youth. Elected officials should avoid or denounce rhetoric that isolates or scapegoats vulnerable populations. I am demanding you step down.”
Pittsburgh-based nonprofit TransYOUniting told TribLive that over the weekend, Catena silently donated $500 to the organization without any efforts to engage with community members.
At the conclusion of public comment, council member DeWitt Walton made a motion to remove Catena as president; the motion was seconded by council member Dan Grzybek.
The council solicitor said that in order for such a motion to proceed, it had to be on the agenda ahead of the meeting, adding that it will be added to the council’s next meeting on May 26.
“I suggest that President Catena resign tonight, right now,” Walton said to a chorus of applause. “But nonetheless, we are going to do this in two weeks, no matter how you try to delay it.”