The City Council of Spokane, Washington, has passed an ordinance enhancing protections for LGBTQ+ people, with a focus on protecting trans folks.

Council members voted 5-2 to implement the ordinance, which updates the city’s human rights code to define gender-affirming care and ensure equal protections for LGBTQ+ people.

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A press release explained that both Spokane Municipal Code and state law already provide protections for LGBTQ+ people, but the ordinance adds language to “acknowledge the inherent risks faced by the LGBTQIA2S+ community in Spokane, particularly due to federal policies and interjurisdictional legal processes from states that do not recognize LGBTQIA2S+ rights or are working to deny such individuals access to essential medical care, including gender-affirming care.”

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The policy “prohibits the city from collecting or disseminating information about anyone’s sex assigned at birth, unless it’s related to a criminal investigation.”

The ordinance also adds a definition of gender-affirming care to the human rights code’s glossary of terms and adds a section requiring city-provided healthcare to cover it. It also requires the Spokane Police Department to keep an LGBTQ+ liaison officer on staff.

“LGBTQIA2S+ people deserve the freedom to make their own health care decisions and deserve to feel safe in our community,” Council Member Zack Zappone said in a statement.  “That freedom and safety are under threat across the country. This ordinance ensures the City continues to protect LGBTQIA2S+ people and that they know that in Spokane, we all belong.”

“I want to thank all the powerful and heartfelt testimony in support of this ordinance that is about supporting safety, freedom, and dignity,” added Council Member Paul Dillon.  “Spokane is a city where diversity is not just accepted but celebrated, and this ordinance shows our commitment to our city motto that in Spokane, we all belong, especially in a time of targeting and discrimination…”

Councilmembers Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart voted against the ordinance, with Bingle attempting to add five amendments, including measures to ban trans people from using the bathrooms and playing on sports teams that align with their genders and to ban those under 18 from receiving gender-affirming care through city insurance. None of the amendments passed.

During the city council meeting, Bingle defended his position, claiming he doesn’t want anyone in the city to be discriminated against, including those “who have sincerely held religious, moral, or ethical objections to this.”

“It’s a live and let live situation that I’m totally cool with,” he said. “I think that’s a great idea.”

Dozens of people showed up at the meeting to advocate for passing the ordinance.

One mother of an adult trans son said she fled to Spokane from Idaho with her son and his wife after her son experienced horrific mistreatment by doctors in Idaho.

In Spokane, she said, they found support, dignity, and a “welcoming spirit.” But she said hostility has been growing in the city in the wake of the federal government’s anti-trans policies. “We are feeling the fear and stress we thought we left behind,” she said.

The ordinance, she said, “is not just about symbolism; it’s about real protections, real care, real safety for people who are just trying to live their lives.”

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