The City Council of Worcester, Massachusetts passed a resolution declaring the city “a sanctuary city and a place of safety for transgender and gender diverse people,” reports Boston.com:
It comes in the wake of a series of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump that include limiting access to gender-affirming care for children and teenagers and reducing the government’s definition of gender to only male and female.
“The trans, nonbinary, and LGBTQIA+ community in Worcester and nationally are being attacked by President Trump,” Cislo said in the resolution.
In declaring Worcester a “sanctuary city,” the City Council committed to equal protections for LGBTQIA+ people. It affirms that the city recognizes the importance of gender-affirming healthcare and upholding access to it for all within Worcester, that “no city resources…or city property, shall be utilized for detaining persons for solely seeking or providing gender-affirming care,” and that “no city resources [shall] be utilized for cooperating with or providing information to any individual or out-of-state agency or department regarding the provision of gender-affirming healthcare.”
Mayor Joseph Petty said Worcester needs “to be strong as a community” because there’s “one enemy, and it’s down in Washington.”
“I don’t care what your beliefs are…taking the word ‘transgender’ out of the vocabulary of the federal government is just plain wrong,” Petty said. “Not here in the city of Worcester.”
Read the complete Boston.com story here.
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