Worcester County

Worcester tables decision to become sanctuary city for transgender people

WORCESTER, Mass. — People made their voices heard at a Worcester City Council meeting Tuesday night after a petition to make Massachusetts’s second largest city a sanctuary city for transgender and gender diverse people.

For the last two weeks gender issues have dominated discussion — including allegations of transphobia against Worcester City Councilor Thu Nguyen.

Members of the LGBTQ+ and its allies showed up in droves to urge city councilors to accept the city of Worcester as a sanctuary city for their people.

Cheers, stomping and applause erupting after each speaker, many who shared their personal hardships and fears.

Within the last week — Allie Cislo created and filed the petition, which reads like a resolution.

It urges the city to protect transgender and gender diverse people from discriminatory and harmful policies coming from state and/or federal levels.

It also asks for the city not to allocate its resources to detain persons for seeking gender-affirming care among other things.

City councilors decided to table the vote until next week.

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