In a unanimous vote at Wednesday’s meeting, Allentown City Council passed a resolution to protect LGBTQ+ rights and services citywide. Resolution “R48” seeks to “protect and grant refuge to members of the LGBTQ+ community and people fleeing states with anti LGBTQ+ laws.”
Councilmember Natalie Santos introduced the resolution earlier this month in response to a “record number of discriminatory anti-trans legislative bills and executive orders being proposed and enacted throughout the country.”
Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump has signed executive orders restricting access to gender-affirming medical care, banning transgender women from women’s sports, and requiring individuals’ passports to list the gender marked on their original birth certificates, amidst a flurry of other restrictive changes. At the packed City Council meeting on Wednesday, Councilmember Ce-Ce Gerlach emphasized that they might not be able to make federal changes, but they can make an impact in Allentown.
Council documents promise human rights for all individuals within city limits, from healthcare to education to “peaceful enjoyment of their lives.”
The resolution includes the adoption of a Gender-Affirming Healthcare Policy, which prohibits city personnel from imposing penalties for those seeking or providing gender-affirming care. Additionally, if new state laws or regulations are passed imposing criminal punishment or penalties for providing or receiving care, Allentown City personnel will not enforce those laws or regulations. City personnel will not arrest or transfer individuals to out-of-state custody or respond to requests for information from another jurisdiction for individuals seeking or receiving gender-affirming services.
City Council also called on the state legislature and Governor Josh Shapiro to pass a “shield law” that protects gender-affirming care statewide. This would protect individuals traveling from states with restrictions on gender-affirming services to receive such care in Pennsylvania.
