The Kansas City Council has approved a resolution that would make the city a sanctuary for people seeking or providing transgender services, even as the state’s attorney general is proposing a new restrictions on the procedures for adults and children
The resolution, which was proposed by LGTBQ advocates in Kansas City, says the city will not prosecute or fine any person or organization that seeks, provides, receives or helps someone receive treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery.
It also says that if the state passes a law or resolution that imposes criminal or civil punishments, fines or professional sanctions in such cases, Kansas City personnel will make enforcing those requirements “their lowest priority.”
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The resolution comes as a judge is considering a proposed emergency rule from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill other requirements before they could receive treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery.
The resolution also says city personnel will not arrest or detain anyone sought by another jurisdiction for seeking gender-affirming care, respond to requests for information from other jurisdictions or collect any civil penalties in such cases.
Council member Andrea Bough, who cosponsored the resolution with Mayor Quinton Lucas and councilman Eric Bunch, said Bailey’s proposed rule is part of a larger effort by Republican-controlled legislatures in Missouri and across the country to pass bills restricting the rights of LGBTQ residents, particularly transgender people.
Bailey issued his rule on April 27, prompting a lawsuit on behalf of transgender people. St. Louis County Judge Ellen Ribaudo initially granted a temporary restraining order and scheduled a hearing for May 11. That hearing later was delayed until July 20.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice