Representatives of Queer Haven Indiana and other residents urged the Lafayette Common Council to consider a resolution to protect individuals seeking and providing gender-affirming health care.

"We had a lot of interest" at a recent community event, said Ben Davis of Queer Haven Indiana, who distributed a copy of West Lafayette’s resolution for council members to review. "These are our neighbors," Davis said, noting he personally knows many gender-diverse people who live in Tippecanoe County.

Lily Pendleton, who identified herself as representing Queer Haven Indiana, told the council the loss of federal and insurer-based options has left people reliant on private providers and local clinicians. Pendleton said some providers and patients fear losing licenses or businesses for providing or receiving gender-affirming care.

When a council member asked who is denying care in Lafayette, a speaker clarified that Senate Enrolled Act 480 — passed at the state level — restricts gender-affirming medical care for minors and includes an aiding-and-abetting provision that can expose those who assist in obtaining such care to legal risk. The speakers said the resolution they seek would ask the city to make enforcement of that statute a low priority for local law enforcement, similar to actions taken in West Lafayette and Bloomington.

Multiple speakers, including George McAtee and student Janiyah Alfred, asked the council to sponsor or support a resolution to protect residents, saying people have already left Lafayette to obtain care elsewhere.

Council members did not take immediate action to introduce such a resolution at the meeting; proponents asked to meet with council members to discuss next steps.