Cincinnati city councilmember Reggie Harris has organized a town hall event about anti-transgender legislation, House Bill 68. Harris told CityBeat he’ll be co-hosting the event with representatives from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
“I think it’s really important for HRC, that they show up in a real sort of grassroots way with the community. They agreed.”
The purpose of the town hall will be to gauge the city’s ability to serve community members who will be impacted by HB 68, which bans all gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The law includes a grandfather clause that would allow youth who are already receiving care to continue treatment. Gender-affirming care for adults in the state was at risk after Ohio Governor Mike DeWine released a set of proposed administrative rules for some adults seeking care, but Ohio’s Department of Health and Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services both issued revised proposals last week after receiving thousands of comments from the public in opposition.
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Harris said he’s looking to bring together the city, advocates and those impacted by the bill to figure out next steps.
“We’re pulling together the city law department, National Association of Social Workers, Equality Ohio and the National Association of Social Workers — they are launching some best practices and trainings for mental health therapists around practicing post HB 68.”
The town hall will be held at the McKie Recreation Center in Northside on Thursday, Feb. 15 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Harris said the event is open to anyone and everyone impacted by HB 68.
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“Those who are part of the [transgender] community, those who are practitioners, those who have children and family members that may be impacted — I want folks in the city of Cincinnati to know that local government really cares and is connected to this issue.”
Harris, who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community, said the city can’t walk back the decisions made at the statehouse on gender-affirming care, but he can help the community best prepare for the impact.
“As a city, we have no power to change this. All we can do right now is try to mitigate as best we can the impacts of HB 68,” he said. “And I just want to be very clear — this is triaging.”
HB 68 is set to become law on April 23.
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This article appears in Feb 12-12, 2024.