WORCESTER, Mass. - On Tuesday, the Worcester City Council voted to become a sanctuary city for transgender and gender-diverse people.

The vote happened as Councilor Thu Nguyen returned from a month-long hiatus after alleging instances of transphobia and discrimination within the council.

Prior to the meeting, dozens of people gathered outside the council chambers for the fourth consecutive week. The group of demonstrators had been calling for a formal investigation into Councilor Nguyen’s claims of harassment, as well as a petition to become a trans and gender-diverse sanctuary city, which ultimately passed at the meeting.

Joshua Croke, one of the protest’s organizers, said they feel it’s important to pass the petition ‘Given the national climate right now and the attempted erasure of trans identity at the federal level.’

“We think it is incredibly important and critical for municipalities and elected leaders to look at their trans and gender-diverse community, the LGBTQ+ community, and say ‘We recognize that there is an attack on your identity as people and we want to assure you that you are safe here in this city,” Croke said.

Nguyen’s hiatus began after they alleged instances of transphobia and discrimination within the council.

The claims were made during a discussion about remote participation at a January city council meeting. Councilor Nguyen said colleagues have used hate speech and contribute to a ‘discriminatory and toxic council culture,’ including referring to them as ‘it’.

“Under your leadership, I have felt unsafe around this council body,” Nguyen said. “I have faced transphobia with being misgendered, and recently learned that I’ve been dehumanized to a point where I am being referred to as ‘it’ by my colleagues on this council.”