Sunday Deep-Dives, Issue I: The Historical Significance of the Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy
Alexandria Rose speaks to Cleveland DSA members Mackenzie F and Matt B, as well as President Sarah Kepple of Lakewood City Council, for a deep-dive into the historic Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy.
Intersex & Transgender Ohioans, as well as Drag Performers, enjoy civil rights and healthcare protections in Lakewood, Ohio, thanks to the Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy. (Photo Credit: Valentino Vecchietti. Progress Pride Flag, 2021.)
LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Introduced by Cleveland Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), reviewed, revised, and expanded upon by President Sarah Kepple and Councilperson Cindy Strebig of Lakewood City Council, the Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy (LGFP) is a groundbreaking piece of local legislation penned in open defiance to the state of Ohio’s various crackdowns on gender-affirming care. Across the US, state legislatures and federal agencies have introduced or supported restrictions on transgender healthcare and bathroom access. Gender expressive performances, like drag shows, have also come under recent administrative fire with Ohio House Bill 249. Using reduced enforcement prioritization and changing what healthcare data city employees collect and report, Lakewood has struck back against SB 104 and HB 68. The LGFP stands as a historic and unprecedented declaration of local autonomy and human dignity — enshrining transgender rights despite mounting attacks from higher levels of government, and providing a model for communities statewide to follow.
The Climate of Retrenchment on Trans Rights
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, wasted no time upon ascending to office before he struck gender inclusive language from government documents and declared gender and sex to be immutably linked, “as determined at conception”. The definition order also affected policies for federal incarceration, e.g., placement of trans inmates according to their sex assigned at birth, rather than gender identity. The U.S. Department of State has stopped issuing passports with updated gender markers for many transgender and non-binary people, eliminating the “X” marker entirely. The ACLU reported on an unsuccessful Massachusetts-based challenge to this executive direction. On January 28, 2025, the President signed an executive order restricting federal funding and support for gender-affirming care. The order directed that federal healthcare programs (e.g., Medicaid, TRICARE) must exclude coverage of such care for youth. Federal health websites and guidance around LGBTQ+ care and supports have been altered or removed. The HIPPA Journal reported on the subsequent lawsuit, Washington State Medical Association et al. v. Kennedy et al., which was recently settled.
Policies and directives have been made by the Trump administration to prevent transgender women and girls from participating in women’s/girls’ sports in institutions receiving federal funding. Schools are instructed to ensure that federal funding isn’t used in ways that treat gender identity as separate from sex assigned at birth or allow social transitioning supports for students. Trump and his administration, in tandem with SCOTUS, have prevented Trans people from serving in the armed forces. Democracy Forward reports in its July press release federal agencies, such as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), have been directed to deprioritize or not investigate discrimination claims based on gender identity. This shift is in response to Executive Order 14168.
Recent legislation passed by Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio State Legislature have followed the Trump administration’s lead, restructuring the civil liberties and protections of marginalized communities. Ohio House Bill 68 (HB-68) targeted gender-affirming care for minors in the state, resulting in a ban. HB-68 affected the prescription of puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and sex reassignment surgery. This legislation has been championed and defended by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. Ohio Senate Bill 104 (SB-104) mainly targeted state-funded education institutions, from K-12 level up to Universities. SB-104 restricted single-sex facility use, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, to the individual’s sex assigned at birth. It also prohibited universities from building additional gender neutral or all-gender facilities and maintaining currently installed facilities.
Ohio House Bill 8 (HB-8) was passed in 2023 and signed into law by Mike DeWine in January 2025. The bill requires K-12 schools to notify parents if their child identifies differently from their biological sex and allows parents to opt students out of certain gender/sexuality topics. This legislation impacts transgender and gender-diverse youth by requiring disclosure to parents. In some situations, this can be dangerous or detrimental to the wellbeing of the child, such as homes with intolerant or bigoted parents. Governor Mike DeWine’s Executive Order 2024-01D proposed rules that would significantly restrict gender-affirming care for minors and adults. ACLU of Ohio issued a strong condemnation of this executive order, highlighting the implication of a ban on gender affirming healthcare — sometimes life-saving in the case of post-op or intersex individuals.
When viewed in its near-entirety, the sheer amount of legislation that has impacted the trans community since 2024 is staggering, with much of the Federal retrenchment starting in the first week of Donald Trump’s new Presidency. These rights backslides occurred in the wake of an alarming uptick in dehumanizing language targeted toward trans people, especially trans youth and their parents, from Americans and Politicians across the country. The Trans-Exclusory movement is global, and can trace its origins back to the United Kingdom, where prominent figures like J.K. Rowling and Graham Linehan regularly espouse hateful rhetoric toward trans women and girls, and their families. Rowling has been known to use her wealth to fund anti-trans movements in the UK and the United States, as reported by MSNBC.
Violence against women is on the rise. Many of the incidents can be traced back to anti-trans motives; assailants have attacked trans and cisgender women and girls for their appearances. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC)’s 2024 report, titled The Epidemic of Violence Against the Transgender & Gender-Expansive Community in the U.S., highlights the rising frequency of such violence, which especially impacts people of color, homeless Trans people, and Trans sex workers. Charlotte Fosgate, a transgender youth, ended her own life, documenting her final moments on social media platform Twitter, in May 2025. Her final tweet attracted the hatered and vitriol of prominent right-wing figures, such as StoneToss Comics. Please be advised: The comment section on the linked tweets is extremely disturbing.
In the face of this epidemic of violence, the normalization of hate speech by prominent political and cultural figures, and sweeping legislation rolling back the rights of trans individuals, many human rights advocacy groups, Transgender people, and families are left reeling. 2025 has been largely a year of despair and fear for many members of the trans community.
For Ohioans, Lakewood now stands as a safe harbor, a refuge from a violent storm that has plagued the vulnerable, thanks to the proposal initially written by Cleveland DSA, expanded upon and codified into law thanks to the tireless advocacy of Sarah Kepple, Cindy Strebig, and the support of the Lakewood City Council, who voted in favor of the Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy unanimously, 7-0. The city of Lakewood and its legislators serve as the last line of defense against a rising tide of vitriol, violence, and government retrenchment.
The Historical, Social, and Legal Significance of the Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy
City of Lakewood, Ohio. “Sarah Kepple”, “Cindy Strebig”. From Left To Right: Lakewood City Council President Sarah Kepple, At-Large, and Councilperson Cindy Strebig, Ward 3. In conjunction with the initial proposed legislation by Cleveland DSA, and review by Transgender rights advocacy groups such as Cleveland Stonewall Democrats, Kepple and Strebig served Lakewood’s public as the chief architects and supporters of the Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy.
The Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy safeguards the rights of transgender individuals of all ages to access healthcare within the city. This is accomplished in part by limiting the information that healthcare providers and city employees may collect from patients. The LGFP also limits the enforcement of State and Federal laws targeting drag performances, gender affirming care providers, and any other current or future targeted state legislation by reducing enforcement to “lowest possible priority.”
Key Points of the Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy, Ken Shneck, The Buckeye Flame.
No city resources will be used for “detaining or investigating persons for solely seeking or providing gender-affirming care.”
No city resources will be used for “cooperating with or providing information to any individual, in or out-of-state agency or department” on gender-affirming healthcare or gender-affirming mental healthcare performed in Lakewood, a response to reports of the U.S. Department of Justice asking hospitals to turn over “sensitive information about transgender patients younger than 19.”
Investigations of individuals, organizations and businesses performing or hosting drag performances or non-obscene entertainment involving gender identity or expression will be the “lowest possible priority.”
Investigations of individuals, organizations and healthcare providers in Lakewood facilitating gender-affirming care will be the “lowest possible priority.”
Facilitation of other policies and laws aimed to harm transgender and gender-diverse people will be the “lowest possible priority.”
City employees will be trained to protect confidential health information and not collect unnecessary health information related to gender-affirming care.
The city will continue to provide medical coverage for employees and covered family members who seek gender-affirming care, “even if such care must legally be provided outside the State of Ohio.”
In addition to priority reduction, the LGFP, in tandem with Lakewood’s 2016 anti-discrimination ordinance, provides protections in employment, housing, and public accommodations by prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity or expression. The Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy provides for the affirmation of gender expression in both schools and community spaces by explicitly prohibiting harassment and protecting expression-related activities like drag performances. It also includes protections for city employees regarding gender-affirming care, explicitly stating that the city will provide such care to employees and protect against discrimination for both employees and contractors. LGFP prohibits the city from using its resources to investigate or prosecute those seeking or providing gender-affirming care.
This historic and unprecedented policy was made possible by the work of many parties, such as Cleveland DSA’s Trans Rights Bodily Autonomy (TRBA) Priority Project, which drafted the original legislation and presented it to Sarah Kepple of Lakewood City Council. Alexandria Rose of Structures In The Wild sat down with the TRBA leadership for a group interview, as well as a phone interview with Sarah Kepple, to discuss the road to the successful passing of the historic LGFP extensively with both main parties.
The Perspectives of the architects of the Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy
In exploring the road to the passing of the LGFP, the story of a protective measure becomes a tale of an act of resistance against restrictive, overzealous state and federal legislation. These are the stories, as told by President Sarah Kepple of Lakewood, as well as DSA Cleveland members Matt B and Mackenzie F.
Alexandria Rose: “Can you describe the DSA mission in detail? What are the specific goals of the Trans Rights Bodily Autonomy Priority Project?
Mackenzie F: “The specific goals for the priority project itself are sanctuary cities in Lakewood as well as Cleveland. We work toward mutual aid events for each term and priority project renewal to continue this fight. Our projects are always authorized for 6 months. Term 1 began in January and ended in June. This new term covers July-December. We have our goal of expanding the sanctuary city count, but we must work within the parameters of our operating structure.”
Alexandria Rose: “How did this Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy come to be?”
Sarah Kepple: “Cindy Strebig and I have discussed for a long time, as we’ve been talking with trans community members, the mixed feelings about trans sanctuary city resolutions from other cities. Our main fears were that policies like this could draw unwanted attention toward the cities from the Ohio state government. Around that time, in May, Matt B sent the DSA draft. It was a pretty promising start.”
Kepple’s concern about unwanted attention is warranted. Ohio’s state government has chipped away at local home rule authority through various legislative actions, including restricting local control over issues like tobacco sales, gun safety measures, and local taxes.
Sarah Kepple: “Since we’re a charter community, we have a little bit of a different setup. We have home rule authority. The state house encroached on our home rule when it tried to pass legislation prohibiting rank choice voting. When we wrote the LGFP, we were facing a lot of issues around the authority and prioritizing of the use of our funds. A city cannot make legal something the state says is illegal. We can make laws more stringent, or less stringent. So, when the state says we have to investigate and enforce, we can say, the police will get to it, after they investigate every last lost dog, every last jaywalking case. We can set our own priorities and get rid of persecution tactics.”
“With the draft in hand, we had to find a way to ‘thread that needle’ of what we could achieve from a policy perspective. We reached out to trans community members and families, as well as the ADA Task force. ‘Nothing for us without us’ is an important call to accountability. Neither myself nor Cindy Strebig are trans, so we wanted to include trans Ohio in the review process. We wanted their expertise and feedback, as well as that of ACLU of Ohio, with whom we made contact with and brought in. We also wanted to get ahead of the anti-drag bills. It was important to incorporate protections against that legislation as well, so we reached out to community drag performers to include them. And we had to pull all that together into the final version.”
DSA:
Mackenzie F: A team of [DSA members] from the first term of the project reached out to ACLU and Civil Rights attorneys to draft the resolution, in its original language. Those members sent that document over to Matt B, who forwarded them to Sarah Kepple in April.
Matt B: “A week or so later, she [Kepple] wrote back and said “Hey, this looks good enough to put before council without any revisions from the law department! In June, at the first city council meeting, Lakewood City Council passed a resolution to formally recognize Pride. I went to city meetings to talk about our resolution to raise awareness and urgency, especially in spite of attacks on trans people.”
Alexandria Rose: “What obstacles did you face in the road, from draft to table, to passing?”
Sarah Kepple: “We had to involve multiple organizations to ensure we weren’t legislating in a way that wasn’t approved of by the communities we were seeking to protect. To that end, we needed to ensure that we reached out to multiple organizations, including DSA, Trans Ohio, Cleveland LGBT Center, and ACLU of Ohio. We reached out to Community members, namely a group of LGBT parents local to Lakewood. Local families have LGBT kids, so we talked to them as well. Some families have transgender children. We talked to the Harding Middle school pride club as well. It’s cumbersome, or it can be, to work with so many groups! But it’s worthwhile. We’re creating law, we want to ensure the language is accurate, and that a draft could stand up to challenge.”
“Council members are part time, so it’s hard to have the time to do this, as well as my time with surgery, which unfortunately threw me off my desired timeline. We are lucky we live in such a progressive area. Some folks who wanted this to happen have had an understanding of the bureaucratic process in order to create something that can actually provide some level of protection, hold up, and be replicable. The biggest challenge is time.”
“In learning from our reproductive healthcare policy, one of the things we did was make sure to include the policy for benefits to city employees, even if they must leave for out of state. We want to be prepared in the event the state criminalizes gender affirming care for adults.”
DSA:
Matt B: I reached out to the LGBT community center of Greater Cleveland about the measure. I also reached out to Trans Ohio. They worked on a similar resolution in Cleveland heights, which our resolution was based on. Mid June-July was highlighted by waiting for Sarah Kepple to get back to us on when this meeting would take place. In the meantime, we decided to get busy. We canvassed Lakewood to gather signatures on a petition, to get this resolution going now, and sort of highlight a sense of urgency. We ran 4 canvassing events in total, gathered around 800 paper signatures and about 300 online signatures. We went to Lakewood city council, said ‘Hey we’re still waiting for the meeting and to talk about this resolution.’
We’ve been going into the Lakewood community to educate and inform, these 1100 people want this to pass. In August, Lakewood city council was on recess. I got a text from Sarah Kepple saying ‘the resolution will be on the docket after the recess.’ It was put straight on, as three different pieces of legislation. This was the change from Trans Sanctuary City to Gender Freedom Policy. This solidified drag protection as well as city employee protection. So, it was good to hear back, and to see all the work done, but I think a big part of the obstacle was all the waiting. Of course, later I found out that Sarah Kepple had back surgery, and I sort of felt bad, for doubting the resolve of Lakewood city Council.”
Alexandria Rose: “Who benefits directly from the LGFP, and what has been the immediate impact?”
Sarah Kepple: “One of the most impactful things was seeing local youth coming to council meetings. We don’t typically have a lot of them there. It’s empowering for them to see some sort of elected officials showing up and speaking for them and protecting them. That’s impactful for us, when our community members who feel under attack, feel less welcome, turn out and watch us work.”
“This legislation makes people proud to live here. It certainly feels like it was not only the right thing to do, but was uplifting to our community. City employees needing care benefit, and still have access now. A lot of this work has been in anticipation of future state legislation, to protect people down the line.”
“We’ve already had other communities reach out, ACLU/Trans Ohio have also had requests. Other cities and organizations want copies of the LGFP and other resolution language as passed, so residents can benefit. The model is replicable elsewhere. Almost immediately after passing, I thought we could address the recent state budget, that could effectively erase library materials related to gender. It was removed, but it could certainly happen again. We want to be prepared.”What was proposed before did not have a criminal element to it, but was tied directly to library funding. That wouldn’t be able to be addressed in a policy, as its not an enforcement element.”
“Councilwoman Streibig and I have been looking at legislation with our youth council regarding gender neutral restrooms in new builds. We would like to make sure there are gender neutral bathrooms. We cannot make legal that which the state says is illegal, but we can say single-occupancy restrooms are necessary.”
DSA:
Matt B: “After canvassing, we noticed more and more regular community members started to become aware of the resolution and campaign, even at city hall meetings. Non-DSA members would also speak in favor of the resolution in public comment. The Lakewood community became very well aware of this resolution and was mostly in full support. That awareness is going to be key for Cleveland.”
“I am not used to praising politicians, but Sarah Kepple and Cindy Streibig were able to turn our resolution into protections for other segments of the population, and did it all in a way that was legal and attractive to other municipalities.”
Mackenzie F: “I would like to see this expand. Sarah Kepple has had additional cities reach out. I don’t think we have a good sense of where we go beyond Cleveland in term three of our project. We aren’t there yet, but we are thinking about the future. I really hope this legislation becomes precedent!”
“Part of the reason Lakewood was able to do what they did was because the language wasn’t changed significantly. The attacks on trans rights by the state were set in motion in 2023, after Roe V Wade. The format for protections pre-existed. Lakewood is a Charter community, their locality is a little bit different. Adjustments may need to be made, but for charter communities this could be something that, if the cities care enough, could be done across any city. At the end of the day, what it is is De-prioritization. This is much easier to do that counter-legislation.
Alexandria Rose: “What were the values at the heart of the Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy, and what lessons did you learn in the legislative path?”
Sarah Kepple: “We want Lakewood to be a place where everyone can live their lives as their authentic selves. We want to do what we can to make Lakewood safe, welcoming, and provide any level of protection we can. Specifically: Empathy, Community Support, Inclusion, Safety.”
“One of the things that was most interesting to me, we take for granted sometimes, we passed so many pro-LGBT resolutions and we’ve had a lot of community members come in and support that. We pride ourselves on pride here in Lakewood. Not everybody knows that history, or the values that we stand for. We think we talk about it all the time, and it’s important to keep talking. Some folks coming in for that particular legislation expect us to be adversaries. One of the things we think is important is to continue to reach out to community members. It’s important to make sure activated folks stay involved, and work on other ways to engage and partner with us. We’re always going to be stronger with all these different groups.”
“I’m always proactive about reaching out to the community, but bringing DSA into the fold on more projects, when we bring folks together, there’s more we can accomplish.”
DSA:
Solomon F: “I learned that people in Lakewood were so woke, and it’s great! I was canvassing and I noticed many people were very enthusiastic, not just Lakewood residents. No one had any vocal opposition. Some were indifferent. Some just wanted to go on about their day. Not a single clear voice of dissent.
Matt B: “I learned to balance speaking to public officials and mixing tones. For example, I kept reiterating the urgency in the context of the State and Federal Gov’t and its attacks on trans people. I maintained professionalism and cordiality. We wanted them to be allies and work with us, despite our opinions. We needed their support, needed their legislative capacity. I learned to balance pressuring and decorum. Things were radio silent from council’s end, and then Sarah Kepple texted 2 hours after about her surgery.”
Mackenzie F: “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, balancing urgency with cordiality is important. I learned we need to be in the community. People respond so well when you’re in the community. People talk about loneliness, but we have an opportunity to put forward our vision of the world while we’re out there. I’m excited to see where we go with fundraising and mutual aid in future.”
Eliza D: “I learned the importance of having uninvolved membership that supports the project and puts their energy behind it. We could not accomplish this without them.”
Conclusion
The Lakewood Gender Freedom Policy represents more than just a local legislative victory. It is a moral and political statement of principle, declared in an era of increasing hostility toward transgender people. Lakewood’s stand proves that political progress, even in the face of rights retrenchment, can still emerge from grassroots causes when legislators are willing to seriously listen to the concerns of their constituents. By enshrining gender freedom into law, Lakewood has continued to uphold its image as a beacon of dignity and hope for all those who wish to live as their authentic selves.
“Passing the gender freedom policy, in such an inclusive way with so many stakeholders,” as Lakewood Council President Sarah Kepple offers in her closing remarks, “shows what’s possible when we band together, and make Lakewood a more accepting place for everyone to be their authentic selves.”
**Alexandria Rose is a new DSA member who joined the organization in mid-September, after the legislation was drafted, advocated for, and expanded upon. She had no involvement whatsoever with the project.**