In anticipation of their city’s Pride Festival this coming Saturday, Sept. 7, in Downtown Worcester, state and local politicians joined leaders and members of the LGBTQ+ community to raise a rainbow flag in front of Worcester City Hall with messages of support and concerns about the current wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being introduced in state houses across the country and here in New England.
Reports Worcester Magazine:
“We are in for a fight,” said [US Congressman Jim McGovern] McGovern, warning of Republican efforts to curtail LGBTQ rights along with women’s reproductive rights. “We assume that they can’t turn back the clocks, but that’s exactly what they’re trying to do.”
McGovern, in a conversation after the ceremony, said that the GOP-led Appropriations Committee was regularly introducing bills with riders that specifically challenged abortion rights and attacked the trans community in particular. The riders are added to unrelated bills, much like the Hyde Amendment, which banned the use of any federal funds for abortion, which has been added by Republicans to every bill possible since 1977.
State Sen. Robyn Kennedy, D-Worcester, echoed McGovern’s cautions, saying, “We know that Pride started as a protest. We have a lot of work to do so we can live in a community where everyone can thrive, not just survive.” Kennedy pointed to the confusion caused by anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers,” attacks on libraries and attempts to prevent access to gender-affirming care. Kennedy reminded the audience that, as Vice President Kamala Harris says, “When we fight, we win.”
The reiteration of high-stakes political issues was both relevant and unsurprising, seeing how close we are to the Sept. 3 Massachusetts state primaries and the Nov. 5 election. None of the candidates directly referenced their own races, but the point was clear: Political forces are directly targeting both abortion access [and] the LGBTQ community, to, as Worcester Mayor Joe Petty put it in a conversation after the ceremony, “bring back some sort of ‘Leave It to Beaver’ reality.'”
For Petty, it was important to raise the flag in front of City Hall “to show support for the LGBT community.” McGovern, in another conversation, concurred, saying, “It says something about the kind of community we are.” McGovern also reiterated his political concerns, noting that the Supreme Court, which turned back Roe v. Wade, won’t hesitate to deal a blow to LGBTQ rights.
More: prideworcester.org
Read the complete Worcester Magazine story here.
Not a subscriber? Sign up today for a free subscription to Boston Spirit magazine, New England’s premier LGBT magazine. We will send you a copy of Boston Spirit 6 times per year and we never sell/rent our subscriber information. Click HERE to sign up!
