On February 11, 2025, Worcester, Massachusetts declared itself a sanctuary city for transgender people. The resolution passed in a 9-2 vote in the City Council, following a four-hour conversation between councilors and the public. The matter was brought to the Council through a petition filed by Allie Cislo, an LGBTQ+ resident of Worcester, urging the consideration of the city due to recent attacks on transgender rights and transphobia across the United States. Worcester residents packed the two floors of the council, largely to demonstrate support for this symbolic designation.
After coming into office in January, the Trump administration has sought to limit the recognition of transgender individuals and gender-expansiveness. In February, Trump made executive orders to restrict gender-affirming care for minors—which has since been blocked by a federal judge—and ensure that the United States strictly recognizes gender as the assigned-at-birth “male” or “female.” The latter prevents up-to-date gender identification, suspends gender change applications, and further affects housing, criminal justice, healthcare, and more. Executive orders do not necessarily change laws immediately, as they cannot conflict with protections from Congress or the Constitution.
The Council resolved that the city of Worcester will continue to support transgender rights and recognize gender-affirming care as a matter of privacy, equity, and health. Maintaining current policy and in accordance with state law, Worcester will not detain any person seeking gender-affirming care, nor work with or provide information to out-of-state agencies, departments, or people surrounding gender-affirming care in Massachusetts. The petition states, “the City of Worcester as a sanctuary city will not cooperate with Federal and State on policies aimed to harm transgender and gender-diverse people.
The Council also voted to hire an outside party with expertise concerning LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC peoples in regard to concerns from Councilor Etel Haxhiaj and Councilor Thu Nguyen—the first nonbinary person to serve in any Massachusetts public office—regarding transphobia, discrimination, and toxicity in the Council. Nguyen has only recently returned from a month-long absence, citing transphobic comments from other Council members.
Joining a handful of other cities across the United States, Worcester’s designation as a sanctuary city for transgender people is largely symbolic. The Council’s decision is likely to be one of many across the United States as public offices continue to rescind or affirm protections for transgender people on a local, state, and federal level.