Austin City Council to vote on transgender protections resolution
The council's agenda includes a resolution introduced by Council Member Chito Vela, who represents District 4. The measure would direct Austin police to make enforcement of Senate Bill 14, which bans certain treatment options for transgender minors in the state, as their lowest priority.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Members of the Austin City Council are set to vote Thursday on offering some protections to local transgender people seeking gender-affirming care.
The council's agenda includes a resolution introduced by Council Member Chito Vela, who represents District 4. The measure would direct Austin police to make enforcement of Senate Bill 14, which bans certain treatment options for transgender minors in the state, as their lowest priority.
The proposed resolution reads, "Except to the extent required by law, it is the policy of the City that no City personnel, funds, or resources shall be used to investigate, criminally prosecute, or impose administrative penalties upon: (1) a transgender or nonbinary individual for seeking healthcare, or (2) an individual or organization for providing or assisting with the provision of healthcare to a transgender or nonbinary individual; and further, the City shall not terminate or limit the eligibility for City funding, such as grants or contracts, to an individual or organization for seeking, providing, or assisting with the provision of healthcare to a transgender or nonbinary individual."
Vela previously said he's modeling the approach after what he did two years ago when he put forward the GRACE Act, a series of resolutions aimed at protecting reproductive rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. One of those measures deprioritized enforcement of criminal laws surrounding abortion.
He also said he wishes he could do more to assist transgender Austinites, but he explained city leaders have to move forward carefully given the scrutiny this will likely bring by state Republican lawmakers.
“I understand that folks want us to go farther and want us to really kind of, you know, fight,” Vela told KXAN last month, “but I don’t want to overplay our hand, get struck down by the courts and then kind of be back at the place that we started with nothing to show for it. So we want to be very careful and very strategic, and we want to make sure that the protections that we’re instituting are going to survive and are going to last.”
If the council approves the resolution Thursday, the city would also significantly limit its involvement in investigations that might arise in other communities or states into alleged violations of similar laws.
The measure would also require a couple of things for the Austin city manager to do, including directing him to "explore establishing a program or identify resources to assist Austin residents facing potential criminal punishment, civil liability, administrative penalties, or professional sanctions for providing to or assisting transgender or nonbinary individuals with healthcare or for seeking or receiving such care, including but not limited to collaboration with Travis County."
The city manager would have to report back about this to the council as well as the LGBTQIA+ Quality of Life Advisory Commission within three months of the resolution's approval.
The advisory commission, which provides insight to the council about issues facing the LGBTQ+ community, already voted on the measure last month and recommended approval by the full council.
The measure is cosponsored by Council Members Ryan Alter, Zo Qadri, José Velásquez and Vanessa Fuentes.
The City Council meeting begins at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Austin City Hall, located at 301 W. Second Street in downtown.
History of Senate Bill 14
Texas Republican lawmakers made restricting access to transgender health care and creating consequences for doctors who provide it in the state one of their main priorities during last year's regular legislative session. They ended up passing SB 14 along with the help of a few Democrats in the legislature.
The law, which took effect on Sept. 1, 2023, bans anyone younger than 18 from receiving puberty-blocking medication, hormone therapies or surgeries to assist in their transition. Texas doctors who provide this type of care could also lose their medical licenses.
The law's supporters argued these restrictions are necessary to protect children. However, many leading medical associations recommend gender-affirming care for minors experiencing gender dysphoria, which is the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics.
A group of physicians as well as families with transgender children sued the state as part of an attempt to block SB 14 from remaining in effect. Their lawsuit is currently under review by the Texas Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in the case in January.
It's unclear when the justices could announce their ruling on the case.