Following nearly an hour of testimonies from LGBTQ+ Tulsans who described suicidal ideations, bullying and trying to move out of state, city councilors on Wednesday night unanimously passed a resolution to be an inclusive city.
The resolution doesn’t update municipal law, but clearly states that Tulsa is a “safe, inclusive and welcoming city for all Tulsans, visitors and businesses.” It states the city is “welcoming and compassionate” regardless of race, color religion, sex, ancestry, national origin, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or disability.
The resolution was brought forward by councilors Laura Bellis, Vanessa Hall-Harper, Lori Decter Wright and Crista Patrick.
Part of the resolution’s leading text that said the city would be inclusive and safe “regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression” was stricken for clarity, said Bellis. She pointed the audience to the body of text in the resolution, which explicitly lists sex, gender expression and sexual orientation.
Patrick said councilor Phil Lakin helped her, Bellis, Hall-Harper and Decter Wright reword the resolution.
“This doesn’t give anyone any special privileges or rights, so much as just seeking to affirm, and I’d say at this point, aspire to make sure everyone feels embraced and welcomed,” Bellis said during the Public Works Committee meeting earlier that day.
Even with the stricken language, the bill and the debate over the resolution drew 32 speakers — 22 for, 10 against — to speak on the bill Wednesday night. Several alluded to actions at a state level taken toward transgender people in Oklahoma.
Megan Flores came with her son Santos, 12, and said she’s had to talk her son down from taking their life.
Santos Flores, who is gay and trans, said they’ve had friends try to overdose at school because of bullying and discrimination.
“There aren’t going to be any students because everyone’s going to end up having suicide because they don’t feel OK here, they don’t feel like they’re welcomed, and they don’t feel like they really have a community because people are threatening to bomb and murder us every day,” Santos Flores said.
Former state Sen. Allison Ikley-Freeman, who works at Oklahomans For Equality, said she helped 16 LGBTQ+ youth in Tulsa who were contemplating suicide in the previous week.
Councilor Christian Bengel — who had spoken against the resolution’s original wording, according to media reports — said the reports of anti-LGBTQ+ bullying and discrimination he heard Wednesday night were “disturbing,” and that they needed to report them.
The comments were said a day after the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed House Bill 2177. If signed, the law would ban gender-affirming care for trans minors, prohibit public money from going toward any of these procedures and prohibit insurance from being used on transitional procedures in the state. The restrictions for minors are more broad than other countries that have narrowed their scopes of care for this demographic, and go against recommendations from the major medical associations in the United States.
Speaker Eryssa Baxter said it will only become harder to be queer in Oklahoma as bills like HB 2177 make their way through the Legislature.
Erika DuBose said Tulsa is welcoming to her because she’s “a straight white woman.” For her son, it’s a different story.
“He’s leaving Oklahoma because he cannot take the hate in this city, the hate in this state, for people like him,” she said.
Speakers also referenced a man who threw a Molotov cocktail into The Donut Hole after the Brookside business held a drag show in October.
“We wanted to make sure the language of this truly applied to everyone while acknowledging they’re experiencing that level of discrimination in a heightened way,” Bellis said before the council meeting.
Kristy Rawlings, who spoke against the resolution, claimed Sheriff Vic Regalado told her there hasn’t been a hate crime in Tulsa in seven years. Prosecutors would have to prove the man who threw the cocktail had hateful intent if they were to charge him with a hate crime.
Two of those arguing against the bill said the resolution simply should have said “all Tulsans.”
“I think you create division by having any groups on there,” said Miriam Shaw.
Bellis noted that everyone has a sex, sexual orientation and gender expression. Patrick said the resolution was simply a reminder to be kind to others.
No councilors explicitly spoke against the resolution before voting for it. Councilor Jeannie Cue said she was uncertain if she would vote for the resolution when it was presented, but ultimately decided to go forward after praying consistently about her decision.
“I have to show God that I love everyone, so I will have to support this,” Cue said through tears.
Cue also apologized to her constituents if she’s offended any of them with her votes.
Before the vote, councilor Jayme Fowler encouraged Tulsans to get to know one another — especially those who believe differently than them.
“I’ve yet to lose a relationship because I listened too much,” Fowler said.
