City Councilor in Worcester, MA, Taking Month Off to Deal With Alleged Transphobia From Colleagues
A city councilor in Worcester, Massachusetts, named Thu Nguyen, is ‘nonbinary’ and has accused colleagues of transphobia. Nguyen’s complaints appear to be directly tied to pronoun usage. You’ll notice that the story quoted below repeatedly uses ‘they’ and ‘their’ to describe Nguyen. It gets a little confusing.
Nguyen is now taking a month off to deal with this alleged trauma.
NBC News in Boston reports:
Worcester city councilor taking ‘hiatus’ after alleged transphobic commentsThe first openly nonbinary lawmaker in Massachusetts history is taking a leave of absence after they allegedly dealt with transphobia from colleagues, including Worcester’s mayor.Thu Nguyen, who has served as an at-large councilor since 2022, says their “hiatus” is to prioritize their mental health and emotional safety after they were allegedly subjected to a discriminatory and toxic culture on the Worcester City Council. Nguyen also said this month off will be to forge a path to address this support, asking for support in holding Worcester to a moral and legal standard “that feels like the bare minimum.””We deserve a government that is welcoming, embraces and takes pride in our LGBTQ+ community. As the first nonbinary elected in Massachusetts, I have always said for me it’s not just about identity politics. Making history as the first is one thing, what you do with it is another,” Nguyen wrote in a public statement. “I hope by speaking up against transphobia and hate, many of you will join me in pushing for a political reimagination of a government that holistically cares and serves everyone which rightfully includes the LGBTQ+ community.”Nguyen has filed a complaint and formally requested the city’s chief equity officer open an immediate investigation and create an action plan to address this matter.
Of course, this has to somehow be made about Trump:
“It is unfortunate, as we transition under a Trump administration and exponential increase of fear experienced by the LGBTQ+ community that I, as a City Councilor At-Large of Worcester, had to file a complaint to our Executive Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion about my experience in the past 3 years of dealing with transphobia and a discriminatory and toxic council culture, being misgendered by Mayor [Joseph] Petty and Councilor At-Large [Kathleen] Toomey publicly on the council floor and recently learning that District 2 Councilor [Candy] Mero-Carlson has been referring to me as ‘it’ multiple times,” Ngueyen wrote in a statement posted to Facebook.
Note that in this video report from WCVB News in Boston, Nguyen is shown wearing a keffiyeh. What a surprise. You’ll also notice that a lot of this seems to be about the decision to end council meetings over Zoom and hold sessions in-person, which Nguyen doesn’t want to do.
MassLive has a statement from Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty:
Nguyen, who is the council’s first non-binary and Southeast Asian-American member, wrote that they had been misgendered publicly on the council floor by Petty. Nguyen shared a video with MassLive of a March 15, 2022 meeting where the councilor was misgendered by Petty when Petty thanked Nguyen.In a statement released during the evening of Jan. 15, Petty said that once the mistake was brought to his attention, he quickly corrected himself and apologized.“During my 13 years as Mayor, I have always tried to treat every councilor with the dignity and respect they deserve,” Petty said in the statement. “I would never knowingly say anything harmful, and I firmly believe everyone deserves the dignity of having their identity honored and respected.”Petty suggested in his statement that another reason for Nguyen’s concerns was the decision to mandate in-person attendance at city council and sub-committee hearings. Nguyen participated remotely at the last city council meeting on Jan. 14.
According to Wikipedia, Nguyen was a ‘community organizer’ prior to being elected to Worcester City Council.
Featured image via YouTube.
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