Meeting: February 25, 2025
1 16 ITEM BY COUNCILMEMBERS DAN HALL AND NATALYA ZERNITSKAYA 2 Request of Councilmembers Hall and Zernitskaya that in order to reaffirm our 3 commitment to the protection of Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Intersex 4 persons, the Council direct the City Attorney to draft a resolution banning the use 5 of City resources and personnel to aid the federal government or other states in 6 blocking gender-affirming healthcare.
7 On December 17, 2024, Council directed City Staff to re-examine City Resolution 8 11028 of February 28, 2017 which implemented significant protections for undocumented 9 residents in Santa Monica. That same meeting, Council reaffirmed our community’s 10 commitment to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and reasserted that the 11 City would not enforce federal immigration laws, nor share information with federal 12 immigration authorities absent a judicial warrant. Additionally, Council designated all City 13 facilities and property as safe spaces that the City will not permit to be used to assist or 14 facilitate federal immigration enforcement.
15 Since the inauguration, the federal administration has issued several Executive 16 Orders, including Orders 14168 and 14187, that attack transgender, gender diverse, and 17 intersex (TGI) healthcare and gender-affirming care for both adults and minors. Gender18 affirming care, as defined by the World Health Organization, encompasses a range of 19 social, psychological, behavioral, and medical interventions “designed to support and 20 affirm an individual’s gender identity” when it conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth.1 21 The interventions help transgender people align various aspects of their lives — 22 emotional, interpersonal, and biological — with their gender identity. As noted by the 23 American Psychiatric Association (APA), that identity can run anywhere along a continuum that includes man, woman, a combination of those, neither of those, and fluid.2 24 25 Interventions fall along a continuum as well, from counseling to changes in social 26 expression to medications (such as hormone therapy). For children in particular, the 27 timing of the interventions is based on several factors, including cognitive and physical 28 development as well as parental consent. Surgery, including to reduce a person’s Adam’s 29 Apple, or to align their chest or genitalia with their gender identity, is rarely provided to people under 18.3 30 “The goal is not treatment, but to listen to the child and build 31 understanding — to create an environment of safety in which emotions, questions, and 1https://www.who.int/standards/classifications/frequently-asked-questions/gender-incongruence-andtransgender-health-in-the-icd 2https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconformingpatients/terminology 3 https://www.aamc.org/news/what-gender-affirming-care-your-questions-answered 16 ITEM BY COUNCILMEMBERS HALL AND ZERNITSKAYA
Protecting Access to Gender-Affirming Healthcare and Preventing City Resources from Assisting Federal Investigations into TGI Persons and Healthcare
32 concerns can be explored,” says a policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on gender-affirming care.4 33
34 In 2023, California implemented the “Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Intersex 35 (TGI) Inclusive Care Act” which protects the right of Californians to access genderaffirming healthcare services. 36 5 While state law requires access to such healthcare, there 37 are increasing concerns among the LGBTQ+ community that, as seen with immigration 38 and reproductive health care, federal or other-than-California state investigations will be 39 launched against individuals seeking gender-affirming care, those aiding individuals 40 seeking such care, medical providers providing such care, and organizations that fund 41 such care, particularly those that cross state-lines to do so. 42 The City of Santa Monica has a long and proud history of promoting equitable 43 policies that protect our residents, whether over immigration status or for persons seeking 44 reproductive healthcare. The City does not allow law enforcement or City resources to 45 aid federal investigations on these matters. This is a conscious choice to build trust 46 between law enforcement and our immigrant community and medical professionals. With 47 the actions taken by this administration, it is clear we must establish similar protections 48 for transgender, gender diverse, and intersex persons, their loved ones, and healthcare 49 providers who seek or provide gender-affirming care at our hospitals and clinics in Santa 50 Monica.
51 In order to reaffirm our commitment to safety and access to gender-affirming care for all 52 transgender, gender diverse, and intersex persons,
53 WE THEREFORE MOVE THAT THE COUNCIL:
54 1. Direct the City Attorney to return to Council no later than March 25, 2025 with a 55 resolution that:
56 1.1. Prohibits the use of City monies, resources, and personnel to investigate, 57 question, detect, apprehend, detain, or register persons whose only 58 violation is or may be a violation of civil provisions of federal executive 59 orders or law related to seeking, receiving, aiding, providing, funding, or any 60 other relation to gender-affirming care in Santa Monica or elsewhere. 61 1.2. Prohibits the use of City resources in support of any federal program 62 requiring the unlawful or unconstitutional registration or detention of 63 individuals for seeking, receiving, aiding, providing, funding, or any other 64 relation to gender-affirming care in Santa Monica or elsewhere, or share 4https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/142/4/e20182162/37381/Ensuring-Comprehensive-Careand-Support-for 5 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB923 16 ITEM BY COUNCILMEMBERS HALL AND ZERNITSKAYA
Protecting Access to Gender-Affirming Healthcare and Preventing City Resources from Assisting Federal Investigations into TGI Persons and Healthcare
65 any data that may have been collected or will be collected which contains 66 any of this information.
67 1.3. Prohibits the City and its staff, including law enforcement officials, within 68 their official capacity, from aiding in the creation of a registry or database 69 that is based on the acts of seeking, receiving, aiding, providing, funding, or 70 any other relation to gender-affirming care.
71 1.4. Prohibits the City and its staff from entering into any agreement that 72 obligates the City, including the Santa Monica Police Department, to 73 perform any law enforcement functions to investigate, question, detect, 74 apprehend, detain, or register persons whose only violation is or may be a 75 violation of the civil provisions of federal executive orders, federal law, or 76 other states’ (not California) laws or to require the registration or detention 77 of individuals on the basis of seeking, receiving, aiding, providing, funding, 78 or any other relation to gender-affirming care, or share any data that may 79 have been collected or will be collected which contains any of this 80 information.
81 2. Direct the City Manager to make any appropriate and necessary changes to 82 comply with the above direction and resulting resolution. 83 # # #