Burns<\/a> (Cambria County) and Ed Neilson (Northeast Philadelphia) did not respond to the question directly but they have both expressed support previously.<\/p>\nThe organizers also reviewed legislative activity, including sponsorship and co-sponsorship of House Bills 158 and 1849 \u2014 bills proposed to protect girls and women \u2014 as well as lawmakers\u2019 previous public comments and voting records.<\/p>\n
The outreach revealed a significant difference in participation between the parties. Many Republican representatives provided video statements, while most Democratic members did not respond. Rep. Chris Rabb\u2019s office was the only Democrat who replied with an email response.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegarding the legislation you referenced, Representative Rabb does not support measures that broadly exclude transgender girls and women from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. While he recognizes the importance of fairness and safety in athletics, he believes these concerns should be addressed without unnecessarily excluding or discriminating against students.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the organizers, Republican Rep. Scott Barger emphasized that public engagement will be essential if the issue is to receive legislative attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way this issue wins is if the people in Pennsylvania make it an issue worth voting about,\u201d Barger said. \u201cIf you make it an issue that is important to you, it will be important to the majority party in the House of Representatives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pasternak encouraged Pennsylvanians to review the responses, contact their representatives, and consider the issue when voting. Their message was summed up in another phrase accompanying the project: \u201cRemember in November.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI refuse to believe that this is an issue only Republicans care about,\u201d said Pasternak. \u201cLook at State Representative Jonah Wheeler, a Democrat, in New Hampshire, who is very vocal about his concerns and opposition to males in females sport and spaces. Are you telling me there are no Democrats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives who would like to do the same?\u201d<\/p>\n
What began as an effort by two residents to contact all 203 members of the Pennsylvania House has created a public record of lawmakers\u2019 stated positions, legislative histories, and willingness \u2014 or unwillingness \u2014 to respond to questions about women\u2019s and girls\u2019 sports.<\/p>\n
Magalengo pledged to continue to share information even after Election Day.<\/p>\n
\u201cPennsylvanians deserve to know where their elected officials stand on this issue,\u201d said Magalengo. \u201cThis was a daunting effort for two people, but never underestimate what two determined people can accomplish. When diligence meets persistence, two voices can start a conversation, demand accountability, and become the beginning of real change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The effort by Magalengo and Pasternak demonstrates that public accountability does not have to wait for lawmakers to act. By asking direct questions and documenting the answers \u2014 or lack thereof \u2014 they have given Pennsylvanians a clearer picture of where their elected officials stand. And, as Magalengo made clear, their work isn\u2019t finished on Election Day.<\/p>\n
Responses are posted on Magalengo\u2019s X (@holly_berre), Facebook (@Holly Ann Mongoose), and Instagram (@Hollyberre6) accounts and Pasternak\u2019s X (@luce_lexi) and Facebook (@Alexis Pasternak) accounts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beth Ann Rosica\u2019s writings are a blend of news, opinion, and analysis. \u201cNo guessing. No assumptions. Put it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[97966,19955,115727,97971,2311,28,30,29,5019,129920,53993],"class_list":["post-319429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-alexis-pasternak","tag-chris-rabb","tag-girls-sports","tag-holly-magalengo","tag-must-read","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-republicans","tag-scott-barger","tag-transgenderism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}