New England city votes to become a sanctuary for transgender community

• Worcester City Council voted 9-2 to declare the city a sanctuary for transgender individuals. This new declaration bars out-of-state agencies from accessing healthcare data and refusing cooperation with what the council calls potentially harmful policies.
• The city said the resolution reinforces its commitment to protecting transgender rights.

• The decision followed fiery public comments, with supporters urging the city to provide safety and opponents raising concerns about legal and financial consequences.

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The Worcester City Council voted 9-2 to declare the Massachusetts city a sanctuary for transgender individuals. The city joins other cities like Sacramento, California and Ithaca, New York, in providing protections for transgender residents.

What does the measure do?

The measure bars out-of-state agencies from accessing data from local healthcare clinics regarding gender-transition treatments and surgeries. Worcester officials also committed to refusing cooperation with federal or state policies that they say could harm the transgender community.

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Public comment and council debate

During a public comment period before the vote, one resident demanded the council members pass the measure.

“I need the city to protect me because no one else will. And if you think you’re afraid of Trump, you should see how afraid of Trump I am,” one resident said. “If you say you’re afraid of Trump and don’t want the city to be a safe space for trans people, you better prepare for trans people to make this a very unsafe space.”

“Let us remember that the Nazis burned books on gender sciences first,” another resident said at the city council meeting. “Now, the administration has villainized and marginalized migrant workers, trans, LGBT people and even special needs, denying life-saving and affirming care.”

However, Council Member Morris Bergman opposed it, arguing that transgender individuals already have equal protections under existing laws and warning of potential loss of federal funding.

“I can’t say without 100% confidence that the unintended consequences of doing something that doesn’t add protection that already exists isn’t going to cause harm to the other 200,000-plus people in the city of Worcester,” Bergman said. “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.”

President Trump’s Executive Orders

The resolution comes after two executive orders signed by former President Donald Trump in January: one recognizing only two sexes, male and female, and another seeking to end gender-transition treatments for children.

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LGBTQ+ advocates said they brought the measure forward in response to these federal policies.