In a nation facing escalating attacks on the rights of Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (QTBIPOC), Seattle must uphold and fortify its role as a beacon of inclusivity and progressive values. Amid national rollbacks, including hundreds of anti-trans bills introduced nationwide and increasing threats against immigrant communities, we cannot allow our local protections to weaken or unravel.
Recent renter protections in Seattle, particularly the Roommate Ordinance and Right of First Refusal, are essential lifelines that offer economic relief, protection from displacement, and basic dignity, yet currently face uncertain political futures. In a housing market shaped by soaring costs and racialized inequality, these measures are often the last defense against homelessness or forced relocation. Without them, people who are already navigating the compounded pressures of discrimination, underemployment, and generational disinvestment are left with even fewer options for survival. While unpaid rents at affordable housing developments can cause increasing problems, rolling back these specific measures would directly endanger our communities, exacerbating the vulnerability of those already marginalized.
Seattle’s Roommate Ordinance allows tenants to add one non-family roommate and their immediate family to a lease, provided they pass standard screening. This flexibility is critical for trans individuals who often rely on safe, affirming roommates to escape hostile landlords or unsafe housing conditions. According to True Colors United, LGBTQ youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their peers, and a 2020 Williams Institute study found that nearly 40% of LGBTQ adults in the U.S. have experienced homelessness or housing instability at some point in their lives. For many trans and gender-diverse people, something as simple as finding a landlord who will not misgender or discriminate against them is challenging enough. Losing the security provided by this ordinance would only heighten their exposure to unsafe living conditions, economic instability, and homelessness. Additionally, the definition of "family" allows for most versions of a modern family. Without such intentionality on the openness of the definition, harm could unintentionally be created as it relates to enforcement of challenging what constitutes a chosen family.
Similarly, a Right of First Refusal mandates that a landlord must offer lease renewals to the existing tenant first unless a clear just cause exists. This prevents discriminatory evictions, crucial for renters facing systemic bias, including Indigenous, Pacific Islander, and immigrant communities disproportionately targeted by discriminatory housing practices. According to data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and Urban Displacement Project, Indigenous and Pacific Islander renters experience some of the highest rates of eviction and housing discrimination nationally. These neighbors in our community grapple with profound consequences from displacement, including cultural erasure and loss of community connections to land and traditions. Immigrant renters, meanwhile, frequently face barriers related to language access and live under constant threat from landlords who weaponize fears around immigration status or ICE involvement.
While vital, these protections alone are insufficient to solve our deepening housing crisis. Seattle faces a profound shortage of affordable, accessible housing. Currently, the City Council is debating significant zoning reforms outlined in the Comprehensive Plan, designed to allow tens of thousands of additional housing units over the coming decades. Proposals include denser neighborhood centers and permitting taller developments near transit hubs. But as the Council deliberates, critical questions remain: will our city truly prioritize affordable and social housing accessible to marginalized communities, or will we repeat past mistakes that push these communities further to the margins?
Intersectionality demands we also acknowledge housing challenges uniquely experienced by disabled trans renters. For them, barriers multiply: discrimination compounds with limited access to affordable, accessible housing designed for their needs. Gender-affirming shelters or supportive housing programs specifically designed to address these intersecting identities remain profoundly inadequate in Seattle.
We also cannot ignore the recent passing of statewide legislation like HB 1217, which may implement rent stabilization measures between 7-10%. Seattle should lead boldly in advocating such policies be expanded locally to prevent escalating rents from forcing our neighbors onto the streets as those caps at times can far exceed what is affordable for working class people.
At a time when anti-trans and anti-immigrant rhetoric is gaining momentum nationally, Seattle's local leadership must explicitly reject retrenchment.
Seattle has a clear moral imperative to set a national example. Our city can demonstrate unequivocally how municipalities protect communities by firmly safeguarding renter rights, rapidly expanding equitable housing, and confronting systemic discrimination at every turn.
In this urgent political moment, we call upon Seattle’s leaders to reaffirm their commitment to renter protections. Safe, inclusive, and stable housing is foundational, not only to our community’s health and vibrancy, but to the very heart and future of our city.
The resilience of Seattle depends upon our shared resolve to keep these protections in place. We must act decisively, courageously, and immediately to keep them.
Ry Armstrong is the co-Executive Director of Sustainable Seattle
Amasai Jeke is the SPEaC Change Program Coordinator at UTOPIA WA
Lynette Winters works with REACH
