A second vote will be held on Monday night to decide whether to grant trans Austinites additional privileges and their ability to seek gender-affirming health care.
A resolution will also be discussed during the meeting of the City of Austin’s LGBTQIA+ Quality of Life Advisory Commission, which will also include a town hall discussion about an LGBTQIA+ Cultural Center and a discussion about the potential need for one.
At 6 p.m., the conference began at 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr., the city’s Permitting and Development Center in northeast Austin.
The trans privileges quality is being introduced by Council Member Chito Vela of District 4. Vela said the whole council will discuss it at a later time if the consulting commission votes on Monday in favor of it. He expects it to clear all these barriers and deliver a message to the LGBTQ+ group.
“That we have their back, that we will be there for them, that we are concerned about them and what they’re going through,” Vela said Monday. We are concerned about what the Texas legislature is doing, and we will assist them in every way that is permitted by the laws we are required to follow. We will stand by them, and we are aware of what they are going through, and we want to assist as much as we may.”
The resolution’s formula is similar to Vela’s two-year-old introduction of the GRACE Act, a collection of commitments intended to defend reproductive freedom following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. One of those steps prioritized the protection of abortion-related legal laws, as demonstrated by the most recent proposal for the transgender community.
“We are deprioritizing the trial of anyone seeking the gender-affirming care for a small child,” Vela explained. We want the Austin Police Department to place any kind of criminal prosecution against a small child who receives gender-affirming care at the lowest concern level, so we ask that as much as we can. We don’t want to be using capital assets. We only want to engage as required by law, which would be of course if there is a permit or a summons, and then to the extent that various jurisdictions are looking to sue or check these people. We will definitely engage, but to the extent that we’re not required to engage, we choose not to.”
However, the resolution does not specifically mention Austin as a “transgender shelter city,” which will undoubtedly offend the activists who started pushing for that if it is finally approved. On Monday, Vela responded to a probable condemnation that his measure is insufficient. He acknowledged that he wishes he could do more, but he claimed that city officials should proceed cautiously given the attention this will likely entail from state Republican politicians.
Vela said, “I understand that people want us to really kind of fight and go further,” but I don’t want to overdo it, have the courts strike us down, and then kind of return to where we started with nothing to show for it. So we want to be very cautious and corporate, and we want to make sure that the safeguards we’re instituting will last and remain in place.”
Lorén Perkins, an Austin advocate, said they’re disappointed to hear this more careful approach.
I do want them to do more, but the truth is that those who are attempting to enshrine our freedoms and entry do so, Perkins said on Monday. It is enraging to see how these lawmakers who claim to be in charge of our affairs are failing to do what is necessary.”
Perkins added that they anticipate additional Texas areas to follow suit, mainly as a result of the upcoming regular parliamentary session that will begin in January.
“As protesters are very often fond of saying, this isn’t a jump. This is a marathon,” Perkins said, “so where we can get win, we’ll get those wins. And we’ll preserve working and pushing towards more powerful privileges.”
