As Bellingham readies anti-discrimination measure, transgender activists explain the need
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- Bellingham City Council prepares transgender sanctuary ordinance for June vote.
- Activists cite federal policies and local discrimination as drivers for action.
- Group Trans Survival is promoting a June 16 transgender-rights rally.
Members of the Bellingham transgender community say they are worried about their future under the current administration. On President Donald Trump’s first day in office in 2025 he made a series of executive orders targeting transgender and nonbinary people, stating “it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
“We just want to be treated like humans,” said Selene Etheredge, a transgender woman and Bellingham resident, in an interview with The Herald.
Etheredge said she started the group Trans Survival earlier this year as a way to organize transgender voices in Bellingham. The community is close-knit because LGBTQ+ individuals see each other as their only lifeline, Etheredge said.
“I know what it’s like to be in a community without a voice, not just lacking the use of it, but lacking access to it,” Etheredge told The Herald. “Being a Georgia resident, I saw how we were forced to be silent as trans and queer people, and how even advocating for ourselves could be a risk. When I came to Bellingham, there was so much motivation and energy behind the advocacy that we really wanted to see, but there wasn’t any way to direct it. So I, especially seeing the federal pressures, saw the need to address that voice, to create a channel for people to direct their energy.”
Bellingham City Council members are scheduled to discuss a proposed ordinance that would create new protections for transgender people and other marginalized groups in the city.
Councilwoman Hannah Stone has been drafting language for the ordinance following weeks of testimony from transgender residents at recent city council meetings. She told The Herald she is hoping the ordinance, which also will include language protecting other vulnerable groups such as immigrants, will be ready for the June 23 council meeting.
Etheredge has faced hatred and been assaulted before for being queer. She said three years ago she was attending Colorado University of Boulder when she was assaulted at a fraternity party and had to undergo facial reconstruction surgery.
Even in Bellingham — a place Etheredge considers to be much more welcoming for the transgender community — Etheredge says she and other transgender community members still receive hate.
When Etheredge first moved to Bellingham and landed a job at a local antiques shop, she said several customers wouldn’t buy things from her or talk to her. Some would even pay more money for an item than what it was worth because they didn’t want to touch the same money she had touched, Etheredge told The Herald.
“I cannot take away the pain I experienced in my life,” Etheredge said. “But I can work now so that people in Georgia, and people in Bellingham, can have that chance, can have those resources that we didn’t get and can understand themselves better.”
Devin Luna, another member of Trans Survival, and has lived in Whatcom County her whole life. She grew up in Bellingham and moved to Lynden when she entered high school.
Luna said she first started to feel queer in high school and told a school counselor. However, she said she felt threatened by the Lynden community and took it back a few days later. Luna fully started to embrace transitioning when she was 18, she said.
“It is hard to overstate how different everything is (when transitioning). There is this new level of self-understanding and self-acceptance,” Luna said. “I am far less self-conscious than I ever was before. I am so much more comfortable talking about everything in my life with people. … It’s not the death of identity, but a rebirth.”
“Especially when you are growing up in a more conservative community, you will find every excuse you can for it (transitioning) to not be the answer,” Luna said. “You will tell yourself ‘it’s gotta be this, or that, I can’t be queer or transgender.’ It’s a very scary idea, it basically feels like a thought crime.”
Etheredge said she gets the impression that many Bellingham residents are less likely to take action because the community already feels accepting and progressive. She said she hopes people keep the momentum going.
“When progress happens, people are quick to act like that progress has always been there,” Luna said. “Everything in this country’s history is much more recent than people like to think about. ... Bellingham generally feels safer (than other places), and I want there to be more legal reasons to feel safer rather than just the social culture of the town.”
Luna and Etheredge told The Herald they know they are making themselves targets by standing up and speaking, but they also know someone has to make a stand and be an example.
“I don’t feel very safe, but I just need to deal with that,” Luna said. “That’s the reality of it. If it’s not me doing it, then I don’t know who would be willing to do it. (I’m an example) that it’s possible to grow into a more joyful and authentic self after however much terrible has happened in people’s lives.”
Luna recently participated in a transgender support demonstration following the Lynden School District’s resolution against transgender student athletes participating in girls divisions of school sports. The resolution reaffirmed the district’s concerns about the issue, and indicated an intent to pursue legal action against the state. The resolution was passed by the Lynden School Board 4-0.
Trans Survival currently has around 60 members, mostly located in Bellingham. Membership is not limited to transgender individuals — anyone who wants to show their support can join. People can register via email at transgendersurvival@gmail.com or by direct messaging through discord, which can be found on the Trans Survival Instagram page.
The group has been promoting a transgender-rights rally scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday, June 16 at Bellingham City Hall.
This story was originally published June 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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