Worcester: sanctuary city for the transgender community

The Worcester City Council voted Tuesday night to declare Massachusetts’s second-largest city a sanctuary for the transgender community.

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The resolution, which passed with a 9-2 vote, reinforces the city’s commitment to protecting transgender rights and ensures city resources would not be used to detain individuals seeking gender-affirming care. The city also promised not to provide out-of-state agencies with their information, according to Boston CBS affiliate WBZ.

Background and debate

The measure was introduced in response to growing concerns over transgender rights, following Donald Trump's executive order that the federal government would recognize only “two sexes, male and female.”

It also comes a month after Councilor-at-Large Thu Nguyen, the city’s first nonbinary council member, claimed they had been harassed and misgendered by other city officials.

"I want to really share my gratitude and indebtedness to the community that came out," Nguyen told people at the meeting, according to WBZ.

Mayor Joseph Petty was among those in support of the resolution, saying, “I don’t care what your beliefs are, but to take the word ‘transgender’ out of the vocabulary in the federal government is just wrong.”

Opposition and concerns over federal funding

Councilors Donna Colorio and Morris Bergman were the only two dissenting votes. While they acknowledged the importance of transgender rights, they voiced concerns that the resolution might put Worcester at risk of losing federal funding under a second Trump administration.

“There are no new rights that this resolution gives that don’t already exist. However, there’s a potential for federal dollars to be taken away from the city of Worcester,” Bergman said.

A growing movement

Worcester joins a growing list of cities across the U.S. that have taken similar steps to protect transgender individuals. Sacramento, Calif., and Ithaca, N.Y., have also declared themselves safe havens, ensuring that local policies shield transgender residents from legal repercussions related to gender-affirming care.

While sanctuary city resolutions are largely symbolic, they send a clear message about a city’s priorities and can influence local policing and administrative policies.