Philadelphia City Council Prepares to Protect LGBTQ Residents With New Resolution Ahead of Trump Term

Philadelphia will become the latest city to assess how to prepare and protect their vulnerable residents ahead of the new Trump administration after the City Council called for public hearings focused on safeguarding their local LGBTQ people.

The measure was introduced by council member Rue Landau, the city's first openly LGBTQ Council member after she revealed how she receives texts nearly everyday from constituents worried for their LGBTQ children, their marriages being legal, and from immigrants who are scared of their families being deported to places they've never seen, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

"The fear is real, it's palpable, and we need to have the conversation now, publicly, so that we can let people know that they are safe as they can possibly be in Philadelphia and also know that the city is ready to protect all of our communities and protect all of Philadelphians equally," Landau said.

The City Council approved the resolution Thursday, which called for a hearing to explore "Philadelphia's readiness and commitment to protecting immigrant, LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities in advance of the impending Trump administration." Landau credited Trump's record and a number of campaign promises as the catalyst for the resolution.

"He's already shown and hinted that he is going to have policies that will be detrimental to our communities, and we want to just take a check to see how the city is prepared and what we're going to do to defend our residents," Landau said.

Landau also plans to introduce a resolution with Councilmember Kendra Brooks to honor Transgender Day of Remembrance. The day holds particular weight this year, according to Landay, as Trump prepares to take office after a successful campaign fueled in large part by attacks on LGBTQ rights, and particularly on transgender rights.

"Since Trump has come on the political scene, he has fanned the flames of hate and fear," Landay said. "We have seen more violent acts on the ground. We have seen school boards banning books, and now we're even seeing it in Capitol Hill."

The President-elect has said his administration will only recognize male and female genders, and threatened school funding over issues related to transgender students.

The resolution also comes as Republican lawmakers have begun to target LGBTQ members of congress, particularly Delaware Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, who was just elected as the country's first openly transgender member of Congress. This week, a bill that would ban her from using the women's bathroom at the Capitol was introduced, gaining support from the U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who announced Wednesday that "all single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office buildings... are reserved for individuals of that biological sex."

Philadelphia will become the latest in the country to begin mobilizing to push back against the new Republican government.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom called lawmakers after Election Day into a legislative special session in December to "safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration."

Likewise, in Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker said he would ask his state's legislators to address potential threats from a second Trump term. "You come for my people," Pritzker said at a news conference, "you come through me."