By Leo V. Kaplan (via Lansing City Pulse)
Three weeks after threats made against transgender patrons at the Avenue Cafe galvanized local pro-trans activists, the Lansing City Council has officially declared Lansing an “LGBTQ+ welcoming city.”
The resolution passed Monday, 7-0, with 3rd Ward Councilmember Adam Hussain absent.
The Council resolved to “develop pro-LGBTQ+ ordinances and policies” and encourage the city to do the same, to “appoint LGBTQ+ community members to City boards and commissions or establish an LGBTQ+ advisory board,” and to issue an executive order protecting access to gender-affirming care, including “prohibiting use of City resources to block, investigate, prosecute, or detain any person seeking or providing gender-affirming treatment.”
The resolution also states that “any threats, harassment, discrimination, or acts of intimidation by City employees or by organizations receiving City funds will not be tolerated, and appropriate disciplinary or corrective action will be taken,” and asks the city to ensure business assistance programs are “inclusive of and accessible to LBGTQ+-affirming businesses.”
That part about “discrimination” was added after conversations between 4th Ward Councilmember Brian T. Jackson, who chairs the Council’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and drafted the resolution, and the recently formed Lansing Advocates for Trans Safety, he said.
