This year, San Francisco uniquely celebrated Pride Month: it made it clear that it would be a safe place for transgender and gender non-conforming people.
On Tuesday, the city’s Board of Supervisors decided unanimously in favor of the sanctuary status. This makes San Francisco one of the first big cities in the country to do so. Los Angeles’ FOX 11 reported that the decision is a sign that transgender, gender non-conforming, intersex, and two-spirit people can safely get transitioning health care and that providers are also safe.
“Not only from other countries but also from other states, we have seen a flood of refugees coming here to get care and safety,” Honey Mahogany, head of the Office of Transgender Initiatives in San Francisco, said.
The resolution comes at a time when liberal-run towns are worried about laws in red states across the country that make it harder for people to get gender procedures, especially for kids.
Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill that makes it illegal for adults to help transgender children get procedures. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that makes it illegal for transgender people under 18 to get medical care. However, a federal judge recently said that important parts of that law are invalid.
Other states have dealt with transgender problems in different ways, such as by taking steps to make sure that sports are only for one gender.
Sacramento and West Hollywood have also said they are safe places for transgender people, but the San Francisco Chronicle said San Francisco is the first big city to do so.
In 2022, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom passed a law that protected transgender procedures in California. This law stopped state officials from enforcing other states’ laws that make it harder to get transgender drugs and surgeries.
People who support these surgeries and medicines say they are necessary to protect transgender children’s mental health. People who are against them say that kids are not old enough to agree to body-altering treatments, especially ones that could make them sterile.
Source: FOX News
