Sacramento council to consider becoming transgender sanctuary city

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento City Council will Tuesday consider making Sacramento a sanctuary city for transgender people.

The resolution, proposed by Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela, would bar city staff — including officers and contractors — from detaining people for seeking or providing gender-affirming health care. It would also bar the city from cooperating with out-of-state jurisdictions that are criminalizing gender-affirming care.

“California has been a leader in protecting the rights of transgender individuals to access care, but many states across the nation are moving in the opposite direction,” Valenzuela wrote in a document requesting the council consider the resolution.

Valenzuela added that this resolution was necessary in preparation of “future legislation that may criminalize those providing or seeking gender-affirming care.” This action, she said, is in line with the City Council’s values of equity and inclusion.

The city is already a sanctuary city for immigrants, and the resolution would enact the same protections for transgender people, the document states.

Examples of gender-affirming health care includes interventions to align the patient’s appearance with the patient’s gender identity, such as hormone therapy and surgery. It also includes some types of mental health care treatment.

At least 23 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, and at least seven states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for adults, the document states.

A California law, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2022, allows children from other states to come to California for gender-affirming care free of criminal or civil action.

Multiple healthcare institutions across the country have scaled back gender-affirming healthcare services in response to legal challenges, harassment, or threats of violence, the document stated. There are institutions providing gender-affirming healthcare in Sacramento, but local advocates report long waitlists and other issues.

If the council adopts it, the resolution would prohibit staff, officers, contractors or subcontractors from detaining people for seeking or providing gender-affirming care. It would also bar the use of city property for detaining people for that purpose.

At the start of the same meeting, Mayor Darrell Steinberg is set to present a proclamation recognizing Transgender Week of Visibility.

The meeting will be held at 5 p.m. at City Hall.