El Paso City Council votes to strengthen transgender rights through new policies and training

El Paso City Council discusses the process to hire a search firm to find the next city manager on March 28, 2023.
(KFOX14/CBS4)

KFOX14
by David Ibave
Tue, September 12, 2023, 3:38 PM GMT-7

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — City Council on Tuesday voted on two resolutions to strengthen transgender rights in El Paso.

The two resolutions voted by the El Paso City Council direct the City Manager to implement a number of policies that promote the inclusion of the transgender community and create safe spaces.

The first resolution directs the City Manager and the El Paso Police Department to improve policies and training regarding the identification of transgender and gender-diverse individuals.

The second resolution directs the City Manager to ensure that the transgender community has access to city facilities in city-owned buildings that match their gender identity, as well as create an ordinance to require single-user restrooms to have gender-neutral signage.

The first resolution also includes the following policies directed toward the police department:

• Create a policy manual that includes bias/hate crime department policies.
   
• Ask people their preferred name, gender identity and pronouns, and address them as such.
   
• Prohibit searches to determine a person's sex.
   
• Establish a system to handle reports of hate crimes, as well as allegations of bias-based policing.
   
• Prepare a report that includes bias-based policing, the department’s effort to prevent them and make the report available to the public each quarter.
   
• Work with community organizations such as the Borderland Rainbow Center, Sun City Pride, the El Paso Gender and Sexualities Alliance Board and Texas Rising, to implement a "Safe Place Program" which will allow public and private places to designate themselves as safe spaces for victims of hate crimes, student bullying, and harassment, and to assists victims in getting the attention and resources they need.

Both resolutions were introduced by the Mayor Pro Tempore and City Representative for District 2 Alexsandra Annello.

In a press statement released Tuesday, Representative Annello points out that both resolutions come after the Texas Legislature introduced Senate Bill 14 and Senate Bill 12, two bills she says "unfairly targeted and attacked the LGBTQIA+ community."

Senate Bill 14 prohibits kids from seeking hormone therapy and puberty blockers, while Senate Bill 12 sought to make drag shows illegal and criminalize performers.

Senate Bill 14 went into law at the start of September, while Senate Bill 12 is temporarily under injunction by a federal judge.

Representative Annello also said:

[The Texas Legislature's] cruel ruling places Texas' transgender youth, their families and medical professionals who love and care for them in harm's way. For that reason, it is important to continue to promote and advocate for safe places within our community that welcome all transgender residents seeking help and services. I am happy for the Council's decision today since this reaffirms our City's commitment to taking serious steps toward recognizing the generations of struggle, activism, and courage that have brought our community closer to full equality for transgender and gender non-binary people and to celebrate their bravery to live openly and authentically.