SEATTLE — The Seattle LGBTQ Commission is pushing Seattle city leaders to declare a civil emergency as a result of the influx of members of the LGBTQ+ community moving to the city from other, more conservative parts of the country.
The commission says the migration is reportedly straining local community organizations that provide essential services.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has since responded, proposing the formation of a multi-agency team to assess resources and develop recommendations. She did not acknowledge an emergency declaration directly.
The commission reports that community organizations are experiencing unprecedented demand for housing, medical and other services while simultaneously facing decreased donations.
The request for an emergency declaration reflects similar action taken by former Mayor Ed Murray in 2015 as a result of a homelessness crisis. It’s a measure that could facilitate expedited action and funding to address the current challenges.
Jessa Davis, a member of the Seattle LGBTQ Commission, acknowledged that while there are not “busloads of thousands of people coming here,” she affirmed that “the numbers are significant.”
“We are at risk of seeing some of these community-based organizations ceasing to exist in the next three, six, or 12 months,” Davis said.
Davis said the problem is only expected to get worse.
“The downstream costs of letting people slip through the cracks is going to cost the city more,” she said.
Data from suicide prevention nonprofit The Trevor Project found that 45% of transgender or nonbinary young people have considered moving states, according to a report issued in 2025.
“It’s always been a little bit of a distant dream,” said Jamie Brokaw, a transgender woman living in Texas, preparing to move to Seattle.
Brokaw said as more laws began targeting the transgender community, she felt it was time to leave.
“It’s in your head all day long,” she said. “It feels really hard to move through your day, wondering if you are really safe with the people around you.”
Brokaw is raising money to help with her relocation. She plans to arrive in Seattle in the next few weeks. You can view her fundraiser here.
She’s not alone.
“People are coming here in crisis in their lives, right?” Davis said. “Some people are uprooting themselves from their family, their communities, and their support systems, and just getting in their car and saying, ‘I’ve got to go somewhere safe.’”
In just a short search, KIRO 7 verified nine GoFundMe fundraisers made for or by members of the LGBTQ+ community seeking assistance to relocate to Seattle.
In one case, a couple asked for help moving from Florida to Seattle, where they said they could receive gender-affirming care.
In another, a group of three transgender roommates asked for help moving to Seattle, which they noted would be an important step towards “getting gender-affirming care and truly starting to enjoy life.”
One fundraiser started by a couple asked for help moving from Indiana to Seattle, which they described as “a city that’s much safer and more friendly to people like us.”
“We recognize that additional data collection may be needed to quantify the issue at local scale,” the commission wrote in its letter. “However, we caution against any interpretation of the absence of comprehensive local data as an absence of need.”
In her response to the commission’s letter, Wilson affirmed her commitment to working in partnership with the commission to ensure “Seattle is a place of safety, dignity, and inclusion for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.”
“I share your view that a coordinated, citywide approach is needed to evaluate immediate needs, fortify critical services, and chart a longer-term path forward for us,” Wilson wrote.
Wilson instead proposed convening a team “alongside the Seattle Office for Civil Rights to work directly with the LGBTQ Commission, the City Council, City agencies, community organizations, and regional partners.”
Wilson said the priority of this team will be to evaluate service and resource capacity, as well as develop responses that focus on housing, behavioral health, food, transportation, legal navigation and violence prevention. She said the team will recommend short-term actions and subsequent legislation.
The work will take place on an “accelerated timeline” from June through August 2026, according to Wilson.
“Although our city is experiencing challenging budget constraints, we will proactively search for ways to meet urgent needs while planning for a stronger future,” Wilson wrote.
“It’s going to bring a lot of people to the table,” Davis said. “What I expect to come out of that is a lot of policy for the long run.”
Davis said the ideas are something the commission is excited about, but she worries that the team alone won’t fill gaps in the short-term.
“We’ve got to do something, otherwise the problem is going to get a lot bigger,” she said.
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