Blue Cities in Red Midwest States Support Trans Care

Several Midwestern cities have defied more conservative state officials by declaring themselves safe havens for gender-affirming healthcare, The Hill reported.

Local leaders in places like Lawrence, Kansas, Cincinnati, Ohio, Kansas City, Missouri, and Dane County, Wisconsin, which includes the capital city of Madison, have introduced resolutions that distinguish their liberal policies from those of conservative state legislators, The Hill reported.

In Lawrence, local officials last month declared the city a "safe haven for all persons seeking shelter from the adversity of discrimination," including people impacted by a new law that bars transgender women and girls from single-sex spaces.

Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed that state law but the governor's action was overridden by the GOP-led legislature.

In Cincinnati, the city council in June unanimously approved a resolution introduced to designate the city a safe haven for transgender minors seeking gender healthcare.

"We want to be inclusive; we want to be a city that grows in a diverse way. We recognize that we are inside of a state that may not have those values, but as a city we have those values and we want to govern accordingly," said one council member, Reggie Harris, who introduced the bill.

Some GOP legislators in Ohio, though are pushing for heavy restrictions on that same care.

The state’s House in June passed legislation that would prohibit physicians from administering puberty blockers, hormones or surgeries to transgender minors.

The Republican-led state Senate has not considered the bill yet.

Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has declined to say whether he will sign the bill if it is passed by the legislature.

In Kansas City, officials in May approved a resolution to declare the city a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender healthcare.

Just a day earlier, state lawmakers voted to ban such care for minors and certain adults. Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson in June signed the bill into law.

"At some point we just have to say, Enough is enough," said Councilwoman Andrea Bough, who co-sponsored the city's sanctuary resolution, The Hill reported. "We’re going to stand up to those in [Jefferson] City, who are doing things that aren’t in the best interest of what Kansas Citians want for their lives."

In Dane County, Wisconsin, county supervisors in June voted 25-1 to adopt a resolution declaring the county a sanctuary for transgender healthcare.

County Supervisor Rick Rose said the goal was to "draw a circle of protection" around Dane County in case the state's GOP-led legislature passes a law imposing "criminal or civil punishments, fines or professional sanctions" on individuals seeking or providing gender care.

If the Wisconsin Legislature passes a law imposing "criminal or civil punishments, fines or professional sanctions" on people seeking or providing gender-affirming healthcare, the county board will ask the sheriff’s office to make enforcement its lowest priority.

"People in that circle then are protected from any laws that may pass," Rose said, The Hill reported. "Whatever the state of Wisconsin decides or whatever any other bodies decide, we in Dane County are giving a safety to people."