The Seattle City Council’s Finance, Native Communities & Tribal Governments Committee (whose members are Dan Strauss, Maritza Rivera, Joy Hollingsworth, Robert Kettle, and Rob Saka) voted on Aug. 4 to approve a proposed budget amendment that would set aside $300,000 for local LGBTQIA+ organizations. Next week, the City Council will decide on whether it should be enacted.

Introduced by Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, the amendment would allocate money from the JumpStart Fund to Seattle’s Human Services Department to “support a funding process for LGBTQ community organizations.” 

If approved, the funds would be given to local LGBTQIA+ organizations providing essential services to vulnerable populations, such as emergency shelter/housing, employment services, food insecurity services, and others.

At the City Council meeting later in the day, several LGBTQIA+ community members, including some from the Mutual Aid Network for Trans and Intersex people in Seattle (MANTIS) and Traction Executive Director Michael Woodward, gave public comments urging the council to approve the measure, with some also demanding it still declare a state of emergency for Queer and Trans refugees.

Since May, Seattle’s LGBTQIA+ organizations and their leaders have been sounding the alarm regarding the influx of Queer and Trans refugees that have fled hostility in other parts of the country. Given these groups’ lack of capacity to handle the increase, the Seattle LGBTQ Commission wrote in a letter addressed to City Council and Mayor Katie Wilson, requesting the city declare a state of emergency to help with additional funding. 

Although city officials have rejected the emergency declaration proposal, both the City Council and the Mayor’s Office have been working with the commission to come up with alternative ways to address the crisis. 

In its most recent update on July 26, the commission wrote that the Mayor’s Office did not plan to include any funds to address the refugee crisis in its budget planning.

The next Seattle City Council Meeting will be on August 11 at 2 p.m.