Human Rights Commission Regular Meeting of the Human Rights Commission - Location: City of Austin Permitting & Development Center, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr, Room 1406, Austin, TX 78752
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Monday, September 27, 2021 5:30 p.m. – Adjournment City of Austin Permitting & Development Center 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive, Room 1406 Austin TX 78752 CURRENT COMMISSION MEMBERS: Sareta Davis, Chair Isabel Casas, Vice Chair Malenie Areche Jared Breckenridge Kimberly Brienzi Garry Brown Jamarr Brown Kristian Caballero Idona Griffith Maram Museitif Alicia Weigel CALL TO ORDER CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL AGENDA Citizens signed up prior to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three- minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. a. Consider approval of the minutes from the Human Rights Commission’s June 28, 2021 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES and August 23, 2021 Regular Meetings. 2. NEW BUSINESS a. Discussion and possible action on a recommendation to City Council regarding approval of annual meeting schedules. (Davis/Casas) b. Discussion and possible action to approve the 2022 meeting schedule. (Davis/Casas) 3. OLD BUSINESS a. Discussion and possible action on a recommendation to City Council regarding funding a public information and outreach campaign regarding medically unnecessary treatments on individuals born with intersex traits or variations in sex characteristics. (Weigel/Davis/Brown, G.) b. Discussion and possible action on adding goals for July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. (Brown, G./Weigel) c. Commissioners will report on and discuss the status of the Commission’s key priority areas of concern for 2021-2022, including plans and strategies for meeting those key priority areas of concern: i. Institutional Equity ii. Environment & Land Use iii. Health Access & Nutrition iv. Autonomy & Human Rights 4. STAFF BRIEFINGS a. Amendments to City Code provisions related to Office of Civil Rights programs and activities by Carol Johnson, Director, City of Austin Office of Civil Rights. (Davis/Casas) ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call Jonathan Babiak, Office of Civil Rights, at (512) 974-3203 for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the Human Rights Commission, please contact Jonathan Babiak at (512) 974-3203 or visit http://www.austintexas.gov/hrc.
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Human Rights Commission Recommendation Number 20210927-002a: Meeting Schedules WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in numerous canceled board and commission meetings due to circumstances beyond the control of board members and City staff; and WHEREAS, boards that do not adopt an annual meeting schedule before the end of the year as the result of canceled meetings may not have meetings dates for the upcoming year; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Human Rights Commission encourages the Austin City Council to direct the City Manager and the City Clerk to propose alternatives for setting meeting schedules and meeting locations, including hybrid meetings, on the chance that any board is unable to adopt an annual meting schedule before the end of the year because of canceled meetings and direct the City Manager to suspend use of City ordinances that require in-person meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. Date of Approval: September 27, 2021 Record of the vote: 6-0; Chair Davis motion, Commissioner Weigel second. Voting in favor were Chair Davis, Vice Chair Casas, Commissioner Brienzi, Commissioner Garry Brown, Commissioner Griffith, and Commissioner Weigel. Commissioner Areche, Commissioner Breckenridge, Commissioner Jamarr Brown, Commissioner Caballero, and Commissioner Museitif were absent. Attest: Jonathan Babiak Jonathan Babiak, Staff Liaison
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Human Rights Commission Recommendation Number 20210927-003a: Intersex Rights and Healthcare WHEREAS, the City of Austin has officially recognized Intersex Awareness Day since 2019 to raise visibility for a marginalized and often forgotten group that comprises at least 2% of the population; and WHEREAS, Mayor Adler made a proclamation that year to do better by intersex Austinites alongside Council Members Casar, Ellis, Renteria, Harper-Madison and then-Council Member Flannigan; and WHEREAS, that proclamation included the following: “Whereas | The City of Austin recognizes that intersex persons face violence, discrimination, stigma, harassment, and persecution on account of their sex characteristics, which do not fit binary notions of typical male or female bodies; and, “Whereas | We bear witness to this violation of basic human rights, and will strive to do better as a city—celebrating the diversity of all Austin residents, including intersex individuals, moving forward”; and, WHEREAS, the New York State legislature passed a resolution in 2021 (Assembly Resolution No. 432) formally condemning non-consensual and medically unnecessary surgeries performed on intersex children as violate their reproductive rights, gender identity and expression and body autonomy; and WHEREAS, this resolution abides by the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the United Nations, the American Medical Association Board of Trustees’ 2016 report, three former US Surgeons General and manifold additional medical and human rights experts and multinational organizations; and WHEREAS, the State of Texas leadership has shown blatant disregard and/or ignorance for science and human rights in 2021, especially in the areas of reproductive rights, gender identity and expression and body autonomy; and WHEREAS, parents across the city and state want to provide the best future for their intersex children but often rely on incomplete, biased or intentionally misleading information on how to do so from whichever doctor they arbitrarily have access to following labor and delivery and soon after; and WHEREAS, the City of Austin is committed to providing the most current, accurate, factual and rigorously tested information to its residents pertaining to their public health and wellbeing; and WHEREAS, in 2021, the New York City Council resoundingly passed a bill mandating the city’s health department to develop educational materials about how so-called “normalizing” surgeries on children born with variations in their sex characteristics are medically unnecessary and risk lifelong harm; and WHEREAS, there are accredited and qualified organizations, doctors and advocates that could assist Austin Public Health in the creation of a …
