WORCESTER, Mass. — There was a mix of support and outrage in Worcester on Tuesday night as allegations of a toxic culture and transphobia within the Worcester City Council were heard during a public meeting.
The latest city council meeting comes just days after Councilor Thu Nguyen, the first openly nonbinary elected official in Massachusetts history, expressed fear of showing up on the councilor floor due to the “dehumanization of my being.”
Nguyen claims they’ve been misgendered and referred to as “it” by their peers in a discriminatory pattern of behavior that’s been ongoing for three years.
Community members at the meeting called for action, an apology, and accountability.
“Hate and transphobia shouldn’t have a home in Worcester,” one person said during the meeting.
Another person, referencing President Donald Trump’s executive orders rolling back protections for transgender people, said, “I seriously fear for the safety of my family and I fear for safety of my fellow LGBTQ+ plus community in Worcester. I’m terrified for the next four years and I hope you’ll take this seriously.”
Nguyen is taking a month off to prioritize mental and emotional safety in response to the allegations.
While Nguyen’s allegations were met with empathy from some, other expressed differing opinions.
“I don’t know a lot about everything, and I hate to say this, but the president said there were two genders,” one man said.
Nguyen has alleged that two councilors and city’s mayor are at fault for misgendering them. Nguyen also said one of the councilors, Candy Mero-Carlson, called them “it” multiple times on the council floor.
Councilor Mero-Carlson spoke up near the end of the meeting, saying, “I don’t doubt for one minute, that any member of this council, on their unwavering support of the LGBTQ community. I do not doubt that.”
Mero-Carlson added, “Do I think, as Councilor King had just mentioned and Josh Croke just mentioned, that it’s time for this council maybe to have an education? Sure, I do believe in that because there is a lot I think all of us have to learn.”
At the end of the meeting, the city council voted 8-to-2 in favaor of issuing an apology to Nguyen for the harm they experienced locally and nationally.
The council also voted to unamously condemn the use of the slur “it” and all experessions of transphobia against Nguyen.
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