February 2026 LGBTQ Commission Newsletter

Caitlin Safford is Governor Bob Ferguson's senior policy advisor for Governor Ferguson. Caitlin is a proven leader in health system strategy and execution, with over fifteen years of experience in advocating for and implementing state and federal policy into practice. She has a deep expertise in Medicaid programs and has worked across all operational levels, from state agency implementations to frontline health plan operations. 

Q: What is important for the public to know or better understand as it relates to the state law that protects gender affirming care and abortion care access?   

Caitlin: We have several different laws that protect GAC and abortion care or provide frameworks for protections of these services. #1, we have a statutory definition of sensitive services, which can be used to describe both gender-affirming care and abortion care services. This is an important reference point for us in developing out further statutory language or agency regulations. #2 The Shield Law, which protects people in Washington from civil and criminal actions in other states that restrict or criminalize reproductive and gender-affirming care. #3 is the prohibition of discrimination related to gender affirming care services and reproductive health care services in the medical assistance statute, which are RCW 74.09.675 and RCW 74.09.875 respectively. In 1991, the right to abortion care was affirmed by a vote of the people through Initiative 120.

Q: Would you share about some of the work the Governor’s Office has or is doing in regard to gender affirming care?

Caitlin: Right now, we’re working across agencies to develop a joint comment letter on the proposed HHS rule related to conditions of participation. We are also in close contact with health systems that are continuing to provide gender-affirming care and with other medical providers to help where we can with a care continuum as federal regulatory actions escalate.

The WA State LGBTQ Commission will continue to work closely with the Governor’s Office, the legislature, agencies, and stakeholders on every avenue possible to maintain protections and access to gender affirming care.  

The second presentation was from Director Ryan Moran of the Health Care Authority (HCA). Below are some important takeaways:

• Presented on future changes to healthcare coverage 
• HR1 impacts on 2SLBGTQIA+ community and gender affirming care 
  • HR1, also called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBA), is a new law from the federal government. It will bring changes to public programs in the next few years
  • Clients do not need to do anything at this time. Current benefits stay the same.
  • Changes will happen slowly over several years. We will share new information when we get it. 
  • View the Expected changes table to stay up to date. 
• HCA has partnered with the Attorney General’s Office federal proposed rules impacting Gender Affirming Care for minors. 
• Testing for HIV, and hepatitis B and C are also covered under the Family Planning Only program. Learn more at hca.wa.gov/family-planning 

For more information and resources, please see our Rainbow Resource Hub!

Lastly, we would like to congratulate Commissioner Darlin Lozano on being elected as Co-Chair! We are excited to work with them in this new leadership role to help continue the important work of the LGBTQ Commission.  

Serving in his role since August 1^st, 2023, Brown leads DOH’s Center for Inclusion, Belonging and Well-Being. The Center has a staff of six that work to foster a workplace culture that leads to equity, inclusion, belonging, and well-being. Brown explained that the Center incorporates the former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s “Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being” framework. The framework highlights five areas to support employees: protection from harm, connection and community, work-life harmony, mattering at work, and opportunities for growth.

“If the system can positively impact those five domains, then the system is promoting well-being. So, we're not just wanting to make employees feel good. The idea is to design systems and structures that lead to well-being,” explained Brown. “Well-being = thriving, and a thriving DOH can do its best work for Washingtonians.”

The Center is working on several initiatives to engage in these domains of well-being. One example of this is the effort to re-launch employee resource groups (ERGs) within the agency, sometimes known as affinity groups.

“These are employee-led, volunteer led, employee resource groups that support, advocate for, and give employees and allies a safe space to come together to connect, to provide support to each other, and to help identify barriers and challenges negatively impacting workforce well-being,” shared Brown.

Other examples led by the Center include the Kaleidoscope Storytelling program, an opportunity for DOH employees to share 5–6-minute stories with one another centered around a specific theme, and Connect Space, a gathering born out of the need for space to navigate recent budgetary impacts during the past two years. The Center has also partnered with Human Resources to include fostering inclusion, belonging, and well-being as a leadership competency expected of DOH leaders.

Through their efforts, Darrow and the Center’s work focusing on improving the workplace for DOH employees internally ultimately has a positive impact on the services that Washingtonians receive.

“I've been here for just over two and a half years, and my sense is that here at DOH it's very much a value-driven culture, and one of the values that I hear repeatedly is health equity and health justice… I think that then has implications for all Washingtonians, but can certainly have implications for 2SLGBTQIA+ populations,” said Brown. “A part of [being human-centered] is around valuing data, not just for data's sake, but because data tells stories… often one of the narratives is around health disparities. How is our community, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, affected by public health policies? What are the socio-economic factors that are impacting that community in terms of health disparity? I think there's a real focus on looking for, understanding, and attending to those health disparities.”

Brown hopes that the Center’s framework and response to employee well-being sets the Department up for success.

“The assumption is that if employees are thriving then they are doing their best work. A thriving employee is obviously one that is experiencing a high level of well-being,” said Brown. “When there is well-being, work engagement and life satisfaction go up and work absenteeism and workplace distress go down. These changes lead to a high-performing, productive workforce.”

Brown’s impact on state inclusion efforts reaches beyond the Department of Health. In October 2025 he was elected Co-Chair for the Rainbow Alliance and Inclusion Network (RAIN), the LGBTQ+ Business Resource Group available to all state employees and employees of Washington state institutions of higher education.

“I've been a state employee since June of 2020 and probably attended my first RAIN meeting in June of 2020… I've had a good personal experience of RAIN. Feeling like, oh, there's people like me in the state enterprise, it’s just really nice to be a part of something. It normalizes the experience of being gay and a state employee,” said Brown. “RAIN provides that place for people to come to be in a safe space, but also to be in a brave space.”

When asked about his hope for the future in Washington state, Brown shared that his hope comes from his confidence in the colleagues around him to prioritize equity no matter the challenge.

“I get to be in spaces with executive leaders who are talking about all the business-y stuff, but they're also talking about the workforce. They're having conversations about equity; they're having conversations about well-being and inclusion. Not only are they having conversations, they’re also leading initiatives that promote inclusion and well-being,” shared Brown. “In the face of all of this disruption, what I hear and see, and am a part of, is leaders that are actively doing the work in spite of what's happening… there's a high commitment to just keep going.”

Interested in hearing about what the LGBTQ Commission is working on? Want to provide a public comment to the LGBTQ Commission? Come to our March public meeting in Seattle, Washington! The theme for this meeting will be Housing, one of the Commission's five priority areas this year.

On Friday, March 28th, from 12:00PM to 5:00PM, and on Saturday, March 29th, from 9:00AM-12:00PM, the Washington State LGBTQ Commission will convene for their second public meeting of 2026. We hope you are able to find some time join us to hear more about Commission work, and we highly encourage 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals around the state to tune in and share public comment with us, in-person or virtually. Public comment begins at 11:00am on Saturday, but the public is always welcome to observe any portion of the meeting. Visit our website for in-person location details.

There will be a Zoom option for those looking to participate virtually. Zoom link will be live here on our website prior to the meeting. An agenda will be uploaded no later than 24 hours prior to the start of the meeting.

We hope to see you there!

Athena Ortega is a 2026 legislative intern with the Washington State LGBTQ Commission and a second-year Master of Public Administration student at The Evergreen State College. Their work focuses on bill tracking, policy research, and legislative analysis related to equity and community wellbeing. Athena brings a background in holistic health as a certified holistic health coach and Functional Nutrition Counselor, following a BA in Food Systems, Ethnobotany, and Human Health from Evergreen. Their passion for community advocacy and equity-focused policy led them to pursue public administration and legislative work in service of the LGBTQ community. In their free time, Athena enjoys cooking, music, family, and spending time in nature at home in Grays Harbor County with their wife and dogs, Blue, Rosie, and Poppy.

The Washington State LGBTQ Commission is thankful for Athena's work to help our office stay on top of this busy and short legislative session!

Interested in following along with legislation that impacts the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Washington this session? Our staff is updating lgbtq.wa.gov/2026session with up-to-date information on the progress bills that could impact our community DAILY!  Legislation tracked on this page does not reflect the Washington State LGBTQ Commission's support or opposition to any legislation. This is for educational purposes only.

Make sure you are also following our social media pages for timely updates on legislation progress and more information on legislative session! Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, LinkedIn

Are you looking to get involved this legislative session? Wanting to learn how to testify on bills that matter to you, or how to keep track of everything happening?

Look no further! The Washington State LGBTQ Commission has created a Legislative Toolkit full of helpful resources to understand all sorts of different ways to engage, so you can find what works best for you. We hope you find this is a helpful document if you are new or returning to session!

Click this link to download a copy of the 2026 LGBTQ Commission Legislative Toolkit!

In addition to reaching out to your state legislators (which you should absolutely do!), you are always welcome to reach out to contact@lgbtq.wa.gov to share your feedback on legislation. It is very helpful for us to hear your thoughts so that we can best advise the Governor and the Legislature on what is most important to our community. Please reference the bill number in the subject line of the email.

The Minority and Justice Commission has launched the first standing sub-committee to a Supreme Court Commission developed to focus specifically on the experiences of Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Asexual, and other (2SLGBTQIA+) users of the Washington State legal system, and particularly where 2SLGBTQIA+ identity and racial injustice uniquely impact access to justice. 

ASK: We are seeking a wide range of community members to form the inaugural committee!  In particular, we are seeking individuals with lived experience in Washington courts – for example, eviction proceedings, family law, or criminal matters – as well as court staff, lawyers, and judges. Please nominate individuals you think would be a good fit for membership on the committee, including yourself. Please use the form below. 

QT+ Committee Membership – Nomination Form

What to expect after nomination: After completing the nomination form, the nominator and nominee will be contacted by a member of our steering committee.  We will meet (virtually or in person) to get to know each other, and nominees may begin attending meetings right away. 

Expectations of membership include:

• Regular attendance at virtual monthly meetings;
• Contributing to Committee projects, which may include community outreach, researching and proposing policy and court rule amendments, judicial education, artistic design and storytelling, and other skills;
• Periodic attendance at Minority and Justice Commission meetings; and
• Developing a Washington Supreme Court Symposium curriculum centered on uplifting the contributions of QTBIPOC people in the broader LGBTQIA+ rights movement.

The Minority and Justice Commission’s policies allow for compensation of committee members with lived experience in Washington’s courts.  For reference, please consult the Washington State Office of Equity’s Community Members as Experts page and contact Molly Gough (molly.gough@courts.wa.gov) with any questions.

About the Committee:  As a standing subcommittee of the Minority and Justice Commission, the QT+ Committee will focus specifically on information, data, and recommendations related to BIPOC members of the broader 2SLGBTQIA+ community and issues which lie at the intersection of racial justice and 2SLGBTQIA+ experiences. 

Our goal is to establish and design a committee that amplifies the leadership of the people who appear most often in our courts, and particularly transgender and QTBIPOC people, with technical support and advocacy from lawyers and judges.  In building this committee, we recognize that many community members impacted by the legal system have not had experience on committees like this, and we are striving to use the Queer communities' unique practices to build this space differently.  In particular, we find that the experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ people in criminal court, and then incarceration, are not well understood or amplified. 

Washington is home to vibrant communities and diverse Washingtonians who all have unique talents, skills and experiences. Governor Ferguson places a high priority on boards, commissions, and agencies that are reflective of the diverse make-up of Washington and that utilize the impressive talent of Washingtonians. We are always seeking skilled and experienced individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds to participate in boards and commissions ensuring an effective and representative government.

We are excited to share the highlighted Current and Upcoming Gubernatorial Appointment Opportunities.

As someone with deep roots in your respective communities and organizations, we hope that you will share these opportunities.  Anyone interested in being appointed will need to fill out this Application.  Please explore the Boards and Commissions Profiles if you are interested in learning more about the many opportunities to get involved!

Thank you for your assistance in helping Governor Ferguson find well-rounded candidates with significant talent and diverse experiences. Please feel free to reach out to Boards and Commissions staff with any questions you might have. Thank you for your time.

Check out the list of job opportunities for the community on our Careers Opportunities page by visiting this link.

We are excited to share job postings sent to the LGBTQ Commission. There are three requirements to be included on our page:

• The job needs to be able to be done in Washington State (virtual works)
• The business must have an inclusivity and/or equal opportunity statement
• The job posting must include a salary range.

Please send any job opportunity to share with the community to contact@lgbtq.wa.gov