The city council in Worchester, Massachusetts voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night to make the state’s second-largest city a sanctuary for transgender and gender-diverse people. The move comes after a nonbinary city council member went on leave due to an allegedly “discriminatory and toxic” city council culture.

The resolution passed by a 9-2 vote.

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Nonbinary elected official announces hiatus due to “discriminatory & toxic” government culture
Worcester City Councilor At-Large Thu Nguyen said they have been misgendered and called “it” by fellow elected officials.

Adoption of the resolution followed four hours of heated debate in front of a packed council chamber. Two dissenting votes came from councilmembers who warned Worchester could lose federal funding for not complying with executive orders issued by President Donald Trump addressing “gender ideology” and gender-affirming healthcare for minors.

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“We’re just passing a resolution saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got your back,’” Mayor Joseph M. Petty told the chamber.

“We’re very happy that it was passed this evening,” said LGBTQ+ petitioner Allie Cislo, who sought to bolster a commitment from the state that government funds won’t be used for detaining people seeking or providing gender-affirming care.

“It’s sad that it wasn’t unanimous, but I think we’re very pleased that Worcester has decided to affirm existing Massachusetts law and to reiterate that Worcester is a sanctuary for trans or gender-diverse people,” Cislo told the Telegram & Gazette.

The vote comes as transgender issues roiled the city council for four straight meetings, following accusations by nonbinary member Councilor-at-Large Thu Nguyen that Mayor Petty and other council members created a “discriminatory and toxic” city council culture.

Nguyen announced in January they would take a month-long hiatus from their duties, citing councilmembers’ “transphobia.” Nguyen claims to have been misgendered by Mayor Petty and fellow Councilor-at-Large Kathleen Toomey “publicly on the council floor.” They say another councilmember allegedly referred to them as “it” repeatedly.

“I wish to have felt safe on this council floor, but I don’t,” Nguyen told councilmembers before taking their leave of absence.

Nguyen, who took office three years ago, is Massachusetts’s first nonbinary elected official. The meeting and “yea” vote marked their first appearance in chambers following their boycott.

Speaking in support of the petition, Council Vice Chairman Khrystian E. King said a loss of federal funds is not a foregone conclusion, citing successful challenges in 2017 by cities in Massachusetts to Trump-issued executive orders that aimed to strip federal funding from sanctuary cities for immigrants.

Councilor-at-Large Donna M. Colorio, one of two councilmembers who voted against the resolution, pointed to the same report by Worchester’s city solicitor, who wrote of the proposed resolution, “We cannot be sure what Executive Order the president will issue or how the court, many members appointed by President Trump himself, will rule if any of the pending litigation matters get to that stage.”

“There’s a lot of leeway whether we would lose federal funding,” Colorio said.

Councilor-at-Large Morris A. Bergman, who cast the second “no” vote, was repeatedly interrupted by taunts from the chamber audience, including snorting sounds.  

“What they said is essentially this,” Aidan Brueckner, one of dozens of speakers lined up to share their views with the council, said of the two members in opposition. “It will cost too much money to defend our LGBT constituents. How much for one trans life? How many dollars does it take to put them on the chopping block?”

Despite his vote in favor of the resolution, Mayor Petty was also an object of derision from protesters gathered in City Hall in support of Nguyen. Chants of “Got to go! Joe Petty has got to go!” could be heard clearly in council chambers.

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