The Dane County Board will vote on a proposal in the coming weeks that would make the county a sanctuary for people who are transgender and nonbinary to shield them from any future laws that remove their rights.
Supervisor Rick Rose, District 16, cited increasing concern that the state’s Republican leaders will block funding for or access to transgender-specific health care as he introduced the legislation at the County Board meeting Thursday, the first day of Pride Month.
The resolution declares that if the state of Wisconsin were to pass a law that “imposes criminal or civil punishments, fines or professional sanctions on any person or organization that seeks, provides, receives or helps someone to receive gender-affirming care,” the board would ask the Dane County Sheriff’s Office to make enforcement its lowest priority.
Gender-affirming care includes treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones or surgery.
“Over the last few years, we’ve seen a frightening rise in legislation meant to harm the LGBTQ community, particularly transgender youth,” Rose, who is gay, said. “We need to make it known that Dane County is a safe place — or a sanctuary — for transgender children and adults, as well as their families.”
Wisconsin Republican lawmakers have sought multiple times to put limits on transgender children. In 2022, state GOP legislators . In January, a state legislative committee lifted a ban on conversion therapy, allowing licensed therapists, counselors and social workers to attempt to change their clients’ sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
Sixteen other states have been passed various restrictions with penalties on gender-affirming care, and dozens of similar bills are being considered by state legislatures this year.
Rose said Wisconsin is facing a “slippery slope.”
“The timing (of the resolution) just happens to correspond with Pride Month, so we decided to double-whammy the message, so to speak. But the truth is this would be happening on its own accord, whether it fell during June or not,” Rose said. “We’re seeing nationwide … (people) take someone’s rights and safety away in a heartbeat if there’s no protection. We just want to make a statement that people are safe here and they’re welcome here.”
Rose recently got a phone call, he said, from a mother in his district who feared for her 13-year-old child going through the gender-confirmation process. Her son had been reading stories from across the country, state and local community about anti-trans violence, which prompted Rose to take action.
“That teenager, all they see is fear, to the point of being scared for their life,” Rose said. “I’m proud to announce that when I introduce the bill tonight, there will be 25 cosponsors already, out of the 37 of us, and we worked hard on this.”
Other cities around the country have taken steps to provide protections, including Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City and Austin, Texas. California, Minnesota and Washington have declared themselves sanctuary states for gender-affirming care.
Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford, District 15, is the first openly transgender county supervisor and, to her, the resolution is more important than ever.
“When we look across the socio-political landscape, we’re seeing rhetoric about trans people everywhere and the vast majority of the words that people are using are vitriolic and harmful,” Martinez-Rutherford said. “To live in a city, in a county that is willing to take a stand for trans and queer people is incredibly inspiring. I am honored to be invited to the table.”
She said it’s disheartening to see the state she lives in put forth proposals she says can be directly harmful to residents.
“As somebody who has been in various types of conversion therapy, that grew up in a very fundamentalist Christian environment, I know the damage that it causes, whether it’s internal or external,” Martinez-Rutherford said. “When a governmental body chooses to ignore health care professionals, they are contributing damage to people who will have to live with that for their entire lives.”
“That damage comes up later in life — it comes up daily. It impacts the way that people live for the rest of their existence,” she said
The County Board also was set to recognize June as LGBTQI+ Pride Month at its Thursday meeting. And while Dane County is “highly progressive and understanding of individuality,” Rose said, much more action needs to be taken.
“Our hands are tied by the state. This is opening conversations that will hopefully lead to our ability to do more government at the local level,” Rose said.
The resolution will be referred to committees and will be back to the full County Board for consideration in the coming weeks.
* Article From: Cap Times