The city of Spokane, Washington has passed an ordinance solidifying protections for LGBTQ+ people and affirming the right to receive gender-affirming care.
The Spokane City Council voted 5-2 on Tuesday to pass the ordinance, which updated language in the city’s Human Rights code — including by defining gender-affirming care — while mandating that city-provided healthcare cover the treatment. The measure also directed the Spokane Police Department to maintain an LGBTQ+ liaison officer to act as a point of contact.
“I want to thank all the powerful and heartfelt testimony in support of this ordinance that is about supporting safety, freedom, and dignity,” Council Member Paul Dillon, who sponsored the ordinance, said in a statement. “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 by the Trump administration and states that seek to ban care.”
While Washington already had in place a "shield” or “refuge” law protecting access to gender-affirming care — HB1469, passed in 2023 — the city ordinance will specifically prohibit the city from collecting or disseminating information about anyone’s sex assigned at birth, unless it’s related to a criminal investigation.
Council Member Jonathan Bingle, who voted against the resolution alongside Council Member Michael Cathcart, protested the ordinance by proposing several amendments, including some which would have banned transgender people from using restrooms or participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity, and prohibited those under 18 from receiving gender-affirming care. The amendments ultimately failed to pass.
Donald Trump signed an executive order in January attempting to prohibit gender-affirming care for those under 19, which has since been blocked by a federal judge after the Democratic attorneys general of Washington, Oregon, and Minnesota filed a lawsuit against the administration accusing it of overstepping presidential authority.
The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the World Medical Association, and the World Health Organization all agree that gender-affirming care is evidence-based and medically necessary not just for adults, but minors as well.
“LGBTQIA2S+ people deserve the freedom to make their own health care decisions and deserve to feel safe in our community,” said Council Member Zack Zappone. “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.”
