Crime & Safety
Worcester Not Yet Ready To Be 'Sanctuary City' For LGBTQ+: Council
At its meeting Tuesday evening, Worcester's elected officials tabled a decision to declare the city a "sanctuary" the LGBTQ+ community.
WORCESTER, MA - At its city council meeting Tuesday evening, amidst many LGBTQ+ members and allies, Worcester's councilors decided to hold off on declaring it a "sanctuary city" for the LGBTQ community.
The petition was introduced by Alexandra Cislo, and called for the city to declare itself a sanctuary city and, among other things, to protect the members of the LGBTQ+ community from discriminatory and harmful policies that may come from the state and federal level.
The vote will be moved to next week, and it comes after the dust has, for now, settled on Councilor At-Large Thu Nguyen's announcement of their hiatus.
Find out what's happening in Worcesterfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Nguyen, the first openly non-binary person to be elected to a Massachusetts city council, alleged LGBTQ+ discrimination from Mayor Joseph Petty and other fellow councilors.
Responses came flying in from both sides, but now the uproar has seemingly subsided.
Find out what's happening in Worcesterfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The broader topic of LGBTQ+ rights is now back on the table in Worcester, and councilors will face another vote - and likely plenty of responses - next Tuesday.
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