Nguyen Issues Response To Mayor, Councilor's Statements

WORCESTER, MA - Worcester Councilor At-Large Thu Nguyen, at the center of a dizzying amount of headlines regarding their decision to go on hiatus due to alleged LGBTQ+ discrimination from Mayor Joseph Petty and their fellow councilors, responded to their colleague's statements.

"I wished I can say it didn't hurt to be made small in my colleagues' statements with Mayor Petty and Mero-Carlson taking shots at my work," Nguyen said in a statement shared to Patch. They're referencing a pair of remarks made in separate statements issued by Petty and Mero-Carlson.

In Petty's statement, he apologized for misgendering Nguyen. He then alleged that Nguyen has missed half of the Traffic and Parking subcommittee meetings and has not held a meeting for the subcommittee they chair.

Mero-Carlson, whom Nguyen alleged referred to them as "it" multiple times, in her own letter, accused that Nguyen "has chosen to distort the narrative and weaponize these accusations for political purposes."

In a report from WCVB, fellow Worcester Councilor Khrystian King said they spoke with city staffers who confirmed that Nguyen was referred to as "it."

"I wished I can say that they apologized, but clear as day, they continued to deflect and gaslight through real accountability around the transphobia and discrimination I have experienced," Nguyen said.

Nguyen is the first openly-nonbinary elected official in the history of Massachusetts. They requested the city's chief equity officer to open an investigation into the matter.

Mayor Petty stated that Nguyen's initial concerns were raised because of the council's decision to mandate in-person meetings. They refute that, and stated their worries were coupled with an alleged inconsistent and selective bias on applying the council's Rule 11. The aforementioned guideline dictates no petition, paper, etc. dealing with personalities or matters not within the city government should be placed on any council agenda by the city clerk.

"Reducing my experience with transphobia and discriminatory and toxic culture to just a discussion about remote access for public officials is an act to delegitimize my efforts for accountability and care for the humanity of the LGBTQ+ community," Nguyen said.