EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — El Paso City employees are one step closer to adding gender-affirming care to their healthcare coverage.
During the July 30 city council meeting, representatives voted seven to one to approve an ordinance allowing the city manager to begin implementing healthcare coverage for gender-affirming care.
District 4 representative Joe Molinar was the sole dissenter. KTSM contacted Molinar to clarify why he voted no, but his office declined to comment.
The World Health Organization defines gender-affirming care as a range of social, psychological, behavioral, and medical interventions that support a person’s gender identity “when it conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth.”
The City has yet to announce what type of care would be covered by the coverage, but local community organizations say they more-less have a direction.
“At the very least, basic care, right? Anything like if you were to have diabetes or hypertension, that basic thing that people would expect to be covered. That’s what we’re looking for. I think what this is showing El Paso is that people are beginning to understand that this is an intersectionality and that the queer community is integrated within the community,” said Amber Perez, executive director at the Borderland Rainbow Center (BRC).
The BRC and Project Vida were both groups that assisted in drafting the ordinance brought forward by District 8 Representative Chris Canales and co-sponsored by District 2 Rep Josh Acevedo and District 3 Rep Cassandra Hernandez.
The topic of gender-affirming care remains a hot-button topic, especially in the state of Texas, after Gov. Greg Abbott banned the specific healthcare for most minors in 2021.
“If a person chooses to do that, that’s their decision. We as taxpayers should not be paying for that,” said Adolpho Telles, former chairman of the El Paso GOP.
Telles said he would like more transparency from the City Council before they approve resolutions like this.
“Publicizing and asking for input would have been great if they could also tell us what the cost is to us as taxpayers. I think that would be good. They with regularity pass things that they want, and they don’t put in front of us, the taxpayers, the people they work for,” said Telles.
The City has yet to report how the new healthcare coverage will be funded.
According to the resolution, by opting into healthcare coverage for gender-affirming care, the City of El Paso will align itself with other progressive cities and showcase its dedication to equity and inclusivity. Canales said this would also benefit El Paso economically.
Canales said during the meeting that adopting the ordinance would help attract and retain talent in Borderland.
“These types of things will attract companies to come and build here. If they build here, they bring higher wages and sustainable resources. What we keep are our people here, and we also attract people who are like, hey, you know what? I’ve always wanted to live on the border,” said Perez, highlighting the potential economic benefits.
The city manager has up to 60 days to research other municipalities with similar healthcare plans and other local government entities before presenting options to the City Council.
Read: Read More