Spokane council to consider mirroring LGBT+ protections; one member proposes protest amendments

While Washington is not among the dozens of states rolling out restrictions on transgender people and gender-affirming health care, Spokane’s city council likely will soon double up on protections for the LGBT+ community currently enshrined in state law.

Councilman Jonathan Bingle, however, has submitted several late amendments to the proposed ordinance for Monday’s meeting that would restrict transgender people from the bathrooms of their choice, trans women from playing on female teams in recreational sports events sponsored by the city, prevent city insurance from paying for certain gender-related medical procedures for the minor children of city employees, and other restrictions.

The amendments were submitted after a procedural deadline, so it would require a vote prior to the Monday council meeting to even be considered.

“I hope they’ll all be considered, honestly,” Bingle said in an interview. “I think these are very common-sense proposals, and I think there is a serious majority of the city of Spokane that agrees with me, so I hope that all of these would be adopted.”

He was more blunt about his amendment’s chances in an interview with conservative talk radio host Jason Rantz.

“Absolutely none of my amendments will pass,” Bingle acknowledged in that interview.

However, Councilman Paul Dillon noted in a Friday afternoon text that the ordinance may be deferred a week for technical reasons. This would mean Bingle’s amendments would not need to overcome this procedural hurdle, though Dillon insisted there was still no chance the amendments would be adopted.

The original ordinance, sponsored by council members Dillon, Lili Navarrete and Zack Zappone, covers a lot of ground, including adding anti-discrimination language in city code, preventing city resources from being used to investigate or detain an individual for seeking gender-affirming care, and protecting against the release of information about a person’s sex assigned at birth, which largely reflects current state law.

“If the political winds change, we could have a situation like the Keep Washington Working Act where a local official decides they don’t want to enforce or their jurisdiction is above state law,” Dillon wrote in an email, noting the legal and political battle over Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner’s alleged violation of Washington’s ‘sanctuary’ laws.

The ordinance also would ask the Spokane Police Department to designate officers to act as dedicated liaisons for the LGBT+ community and event organizers to act as points of contact, advocate for community members, and ensure public safety at events such as the annual Pride parade. Finally, it would enshrine in code that the city’s insurance policy must provide access to gender-affirming care. The city’s current insurance policy for its employees, negotiated under former Mayor Nadine Woodward, provides this coverage.

“It doesn’t really change anything, per se, it just is more of Spokane saying, ‘Hey, I see you, I hear you, and I want to reaffirm that we are a safe place for the LGBTQIA+ here,’ ” said Jenny McCormick, a spokeswoman for Trans Spokane.

Bingle’s amendments on their face would, however, significantly change local policies, though in many cases they appear to be prevented under state law. Bingle argued they protected the rights of women and those with religious or moral objections to certain policies. In a text, Zappone called them a far-right distraction.

One amendment would prevent anyone from using a city-run men’s or women’s restroom if they were not assigned that gender at birth. Unisex bathrooms could not be used simultaneously by people of different genders assigned at birth. Washington state law appears to explicitly ban this kind of prohibition, however.

This amendment would not impact park or school bathrooms, though it encourages the independent Spokane Park Board and school district to adopt the same policy.

“I think we should be protecting women’s spaces,” Bingle said in an interview, arguing that the comfort and safety of cisgender women are otherwise put at risk.

The amendment makes no reference to intersex people, which Bingle said was because they are “exceedingly rare,” though he “would be happy to have a conversation about that.”

“So they don’t exist then?” McCormick responded. “There are intersex people in Spokane, and this does impact them because it erases them as people.”

Zappone wrote in a statement that the amendment would infringe on the rights of transgender and cisgender people.

“For example, how do you plan on enforcing these?” he wrote. “It primes all girls and women for assault because people are going to want to check their private parts before going to the bathroom.”

On the Jason Rantz Show, Bingle clarified how he believes the law should be enforced.

“I’ve already gotten the strong reaction of, ‘How are you going to determine their gender or sex before they go into the bathroom?’ ” Bingle told Rantz. “Are you going to make them pull their pants down? No. ‘Man with the beard, you’re in the wrong bathroom, go to the men’s room please.’ ”

“No, but you’re supposed to pretend you can’t tell,” Rantz quipped.

“I know, it’s so frustrating that this is the world we live in,” Bingle replied.

A 2018 UCLA study concluded that there was no empirical basis for fears that harassment, sex crimes, assault or other criminal conduct would increase if transgender people were legally allowed to use the bathroom, changing room or other facility that aligned with their gender identity.

Conversely, surveys conducted by UCLA have shown transgender people themselves report higher rates of harassment when they use public restrooms, especially ones that align with their sex assigned at birth.

“I fear bathrooms and my safety a lot,” McCormick said. “I pass enough that if I go into the men’s restroom I am threatened or kicked out. I am afraid that if I use the women’s restroom I’m going to be called a predator or have the police called on me.”

Another amendment would bar trans women from playing on womens’ teams in sports events sponsored by the city, such as Bloomsday, Hoopfest or any recreational sporting event that receives city funding. Bingle said his amendment makes no mention of trans men because “I can’t think of a time where a trans man is dominating in the field of athletics.”

“It’s not just a matter of fairness, it’s a matter of safety as well,” Bingle said. “Men on average are much bigger and stronger than women, which becomes a real problem.”

Bingle has previously testified in support of a Mead School Board resolution denouncing transgender girls’ participation in girls’ school sports, skipping a council meeting in order to do so in October.

It’s not clear if complaints have been raised regarding the participation of trans women in city-funded sports events. The Spokane Hoopfest Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Lilac Bloomsday Association spokesperson asked for more time to review before providing comment. Bloomsday board member Dori Whitford recently wrote a letter to the editor that called the participation of trans athletes in girls’ sports “unfair,” though this is not necessarily reflective of the views of the association.

Whitford later clarified that she believes trans athletes should be able to participate in Bloomsday, though she would not specify whether she believed trans women should be allowed to compete in the women’s category.

McCormick said she didn’t understand why this debate was bleeding into recreational sports.

“Speaking from a recreational standpoint, the whole object isn’t being pro or competitive, it’s for people having fun and playing a game,” she said. “And with any sport, there’s going to be safety issues regardless of gender – accidents do happen, injuries do happen, you’re talking about a recreational sport.”

Another Bingle amendment would bar city insurance from being used to provide puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or gender reassignment surgeries for individuals under the age of 18, effectively blocking city employees from seeking the medical treatment for their children.

“Such a life-altering procedure like this, I don’t believe should be allowed until someone is of the age to properly consent to a procedure like this,” Bingle said.

McCormick argued the ordinance also would effect cisgender children seeking certain procedures, such as boys seeking treatment for a medical condition that caused them to develop enlarged breasts.

Notably, elsewhere in Bingle’s amendment he affirms that “parents should have full authority over their children’s psychological and gender-treatment.”

Other language would require notification to and consent from parents regarding any medical procedures their children are seeking “without government interference,” and also states the city will not “compel individuals, organizations, or medical providers to participate in services that conflict with sincerely held religious or moral beliefs.”

In an interview, Bingle stressed that he was not seeking to belittle any member of the community but was, in his mind, protecting children, women and “conscientious objectors.”

“I want everyone to feel comfortable and safe in the city of Spokane, that everyone matters and has inherit value and worth in the city,” Bingle said. “This is in no way targeting individuals.”